The end of summer brought many visitors to VEMU in Toronto.
For this year’s EKKT Exhibition, and 70th anniversary, Chloe Evert, the Treasurer for EKKT is putting together a zine that showcases Estonian artists, particularly within the Toronto community. What better place to do research than VEMU? Especially in the summer, when we have a cool space to offer to heat-stricken guests.
Lachlan Bell is a Master’s student from the University of Tartu studying Folkloristics and Applied Heritage. He originally comes from Sydney, Australia, and has dual Estonian-Australian ancestry. He is currently developing his Master’s thesis topic and will investigate the phenomenon of Estonian Summer camps in the diaspora, primarily in Australia. However he is hoping to expand the topic through a series of travelling exhibitions. He worked at Jõekääru summer camp for two weeks and after that spent some time at the VEMU archives.
Anna-Kristiina Pae is pursuing a master’s degree in anthropology and sociology at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. Part of the curriculum includes an internship at an institution related to her study interests, which is how she came to VEMU. Anna Kristiina previously holds a bachelor’s degree in ethnology and folklore from the University of Tartu.
In August, the VEMU document archives were once again organized by assistants from the Estonian National Archives. For Astri Schönfelder, this was the second visit to Canada, and for Ermo Karpov, the first. VEMU is very grateful to the National Archives and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia for their cooperation and support. Thanks to the assistants, the VEMU archives are in order and information about them reaches researchers via the AIS database. In addition to their hard work, the guests also got to know Canada. Pictured here, Astri and Ermo are celebrating Estonia’s Restoration of Independence Day with Anna-Kristiina Pae and colleagues from VEMU and Eesti Elu newspaper.
Despite their busy schedule, the Tartu Academic Male Choir also found time to visit Tartu College and VEMU.
VEMU was also visited by a lively group of fishermen and ichthyologists from Estonia who visited Manitoba to exchange experiences. It was a true pleasure to meet the group’s guide and long-time friend, Lea Kreinin, again, who has also worked diligently in VEMU’s basement.