Kumu exhibition traces Finno-Ugric heritage in Estonian identity

A new exhibition at Kumu explores how Finno-Ugric heritage and linguistic kinship became important to Estonian identity, with interest in the subject rising during periods of crisis, curator Linda Kaljundi told ERR.

The exhibition, titled “Expedition,” asks why identifying as Finno-Ugric became central to Estonians’ sense of themselves, when that shift took place and how it happened.

It examines how interest in Finno-Ugric heritage spread across cultural fields in the 1970s and 1980s, drawing in filmmakers, artists, writers and musicians. They also worked with researchers and the Estonian National Museum, Kaljundi said.

Interest in Indigenous peoples was not unique to Estonia, she said. In Estonia, linguistic kinship also allowed people to identify with Indigenous peoples living far away.

Interest in Finno-Ugric peoples grew amid the Soviet Union’s crisis and wider disillusionment with industrial modernity. Other peoples in the Soviet Union also turned to folklore and folk culture. In Estonia, active interest in national identity was another important factor. Kaljundi cited cultural works and approaches to history and heritage, including Lennart Meri’s films and Jaan Kross’s historical novels.

The exhibition features the Estonian National Museum’s Finno-Ugric collections and considers how they were assembled. Kaljundi said the expeditions behind them involved both a desire to support small Finno-Ugric peoples and the Soviet research system and infrastructure that made extensive expeditions possible.

Materials from Finno-Ugric expeditions led by Kaljo Põllu in the 1970s and 1980s include ethnographic drawings and photographs made by art students. The exhibition also includes works by other artists, among them prints by Anu Kalm and Evi Tihemets. Kaljundi said the display aims to show that the interest in Finno-Ugric culture was shaped by many people, not only Meri, Põllu and composer Veljo Tormis.

The exhibition also addresses environmental problems affecting small Finno-Ugric peoples. It opens with the subject of oil, as interest in Finno-Ugric culture in Estonia rose as Soviet oil and gas industries expanded into those peoples’ territories.

Kaljundi said the subject is relevant again today, as searches for identity can intensify during crises. She said current interest is influenced, among other things, by Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. The exhibition also connects with Indigenous peoples’ broader efforts to have a say in how their heritage is presented.