The Baltic Heritage Network family hasn’t been able to gather for the last two years due to COVID-19. We were hopeful that summer 2022 would bring a long-awaited change: this year BaltHerNet’s 10th summer school was planned to take place in Hiiumaa, Estonia. We must hope that the security situation in Europe will improve and that the summer school can take place.
The summer school will begin with a gathering in Tallinn on June 28th. From there a pre-booked bus will take the participants to Suuremõisa in Hiiumaa where lectures and workshops will take place until June 30th. Accommodations are located at Suuremõisa in the Hiiumaa Vocational School student residence. We will visit the Hiiumaa Museum and Pühalepa church. On July 1st there will be a tour of the island led by the Hiiumaa Museum Research Director, Helgi Põllo. The summer school participants will be returned to Tallinn by bus the same evening.
Why Hiiumaa? There are a number of Estonians abroad who originated from the Estonia islands and coasts. For this reason, we chose Hiiumaa as our summer school location this time with the topic of the sea and islands.
We would like to inspire communities of Estonians abroad to collect more materials associated with different Estonian regions from which diaspora Estonians originate. The topic of the Great Escape of 1944 is also tied to the sea. We would like to get an overview of what materials associated with this topic have already been collected at community archives and museums or institutions located in the countries diaspora Estonians have settled in, whether and how accessible these materials are, whether and how they are used, and where there are gaps that need to be filled etc.
In addition to Estonians abroad, we also invite representatives of Estonian memory institutions who are associated with these topics to attend the summer school. The Hiiumaa Museum, one of our primary partners in organizing the summer school, has done a great job collecting and researching historical resources on Estonians living abroad who have origins in Hiiumaa. We hope to become more acquainted with this material during summer school. We will also have the opportunity to analyze different patterns of collaboration between professional memory institutions, Estonian communities abroad, and individuals using the Hiiumaa Museum as an example. If your museum has interesting presenters or topics to contribute to the summer school, please contact piretnoorhani@gmail.com.
The summer school also offers a cultural program including music and films. This is a place to meet colleagues, exchange information, learn from one another, and generate new ideas. Participation in summer school requires a fee (the participation fee and registration for the summer school will be announced at the end of March). Visit balther.net for more information.
The NGO Baltic Heritage Network summer schools are meant for Estonians living abroad and employees of Estonian memory institutions who work with collecting, preserving, researching and promoting Estonian diaspora heritage. The summer school includes lectures, workshops, practical studies, discussions and debates. Specialists from various Estonian memory institutions share their knowledge on archiving, library sciences, and museology.