In her address, BAA president Ann Kruzelecky thanked the Lithuanian Canadian Foundation, the Estonian Foundation of Canada and the Latvian Educational and Cultural Foundation for their generous financial support. Ann praised the BAA executive for their work in making the event a big success, introduced the invited guests and thanked everyone for their presence.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Andris Kesteris of the Baltic Canadian Council, took the microphone to present an Award-Certificate to Hille Viires, “In recognition of raising awareness among Canadians about the hardships endured by Estonians under Soviet occupation through art”. The award was granted by OSUDemocracy on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion, and specifically references Hille’s painting “Refugee Boat”, along with her story of escape that the artwork symbolizes.
