Associate Professor of Translation Studies and Director of the Institute, Terje Loogus, gave her welcoming address to the academic staff, students, and guests. The Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia, Laird Hindle, talked about the special connections between Canada and Estonia through history and culture. University of Tartu Vice Rector for Development, Professor Tõnu Esko, who had just returned from the University of Tartu Rector Delegation’s visit to Tartu College and the University of Toronto, provided insights into the significance of culture and the academic ties between the two Tartus and two Universities.
VEMU’s Chief Archivist Piret Noorhani, whose work in and between the two Tartus is testimony to the close ties between the Tartu in Canada and the Tartu in Estonia, gave an overview of the birth of Tartu College as a concept and an institution as well as its development under the guidance of its architect and president, Elmar Tampõld, and his successors. Noorhani’s presentation served as an excellent introduction to the exhibition and the screening of the documentary by the director Kaisa Pitsi, accompanying the exhibition and bearing the same title. The watching of the film was followed by the reception of the Ambassador of Canada, Laird Hindle.
Participants at the opening of the exhibition were impressed by the magnitude of the work that Estonians in Canada have done to preserve their language and culture. Among the audience members there were Estonian students of diverse backgrounds as well as international students from various countries. The exhibition and the film provided much new information to all. Learning about the struggles and achievements of Estonians in Canada touched the older and the younger generation alike. Some exchange students from the Ukraine expressed the idea that since Russia’s full-scale invasion, they have been thinking very much about their Ukrainian language, culture, and identity. They added that the example of Estonians gave them encouragement.
Students emphasised that not only did they learn about the part of history that they were not very aware of, but they also realised the importance of the educational and cultural centre of Tartu College for the preservation of Estonian heritage and introducing it also to other people in Canada and abroad…
The exhibition and the film also served as a powerful way to introduce the history of Estonians in Canada and their journey from exiles to a thriving diaspora community to the students who explored the works of Estonian writers in Canada, such as Urve Karuks, Arved Viirlaid and K.Linda Kivi, in the Autumn Term of 2024 in the Canadian literature seminar. Students emphasised that not only did they learn about the part of history that they were not very aware of, but they also realised the importance of the educational and cultural centre of Tartu College for the preservation of Estonian heritage and introducing it also to other people in Canada and abroad as well as the spirit of community and remaining connected across generations and continents.
Displaying the VEMU Estonian Museum Canada’s exhibition “Our Tartu: 50 Years of Tartu College” at the University of Tartu Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, until January 7, 2025, is the third one in the collaboration between our institutions and like the two previous exhibitions, it has enriched, moved, and inspired us and strengthened our bonds between the two Tartus.
