Exhibition revisits Finnish islands lost in Winter War

A photo exhibition about Finnish islands ceded to the Soviet Union during the Winter War has opened at the Pärnu New Art Museum, ERR reports. “Lost Islands” features photographs and video of the islands, their natural environment and current residents.

Photographer Juha Metso, who is from Kotka, said he had dreamed of visiting the islands since childhood, especially Suursaari. He visited the island on seven cultural trips between 1999 and 2019 and hopes the project will bring the islands back into public awareness.

Travel to the islands, which belong to Russia, is no longer possible, Metso said. Russia’s war in Ukraine has increased tensions in the Baltic Sea. “For me, the most important thing was to see almost untouched nature. That was the most powerful experience,” he said. “We had somehow been frightened into thinking there were structures like in James Bond films, where a rock opens and an atomic bomb comes out. In reality, we saw untouched nature and destroyed Finnish culture.”