Estonian museums launch exhibitions on Finno-Ugric and Sámi relations

Three Estonian institutions—the Estonian Museum of Art, the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, and the Estonian National Museum in Tartu—have partnered to present two exhibitions and a conference. The collaborative effort explores the historical and contemporary engagement between Estonians and the Finno-Ugric and Sámi peoples.

The exhibition ‘Expedition: Finno-Ugrians and the Power of Images’ at Kumu, the Estonian Museum of Art, examines how interest in kindred peoples has influenced Estonian self-image. Complementing this, the exhibition ‘no beginning, no end: Decolonial Gestures in Sámi Worldbuilding’, curated by Ann Mirjam Vaikla, highlights Sámi artistic practices as a method of asserting indigenous agency.

Together, the programming raises questions regarding the complexities of cultural solidarity and how it can intersect with the assertion of individual national identities.