Estonian museums present yearbook on community ties and resilience

The Estonian Museum Association presented a yearbook on museums’ role in community life and resilience at Vabamu on October 15, ERR reported. The collection, titled “Museum + Community: Estonian Museums Yearbook 2023–2025”, brings together accounts of recent achievements and articles on how museums support social cohesion, wellbeing and cultural identity.

Editor Kairi Tilga said the articles offer inspiration and different perspectives on how to understand museums’ role during compound crises. “When everything is wavering and there is anxiety, culture offers us an anchor, a sense of being human, a space for reflection, meaning and identity,” she said.

The book also asks how museums can engage with events in society and support people through uncertain times. Estonian Museum Association chief executive Anu Viltrop said museums can serve as community anchors and public meeting places where people share experiences and create meaning together.

Articles explore museums as community anchors, supporters of mental health, shapers of public and social space, guardians of memory and resilience, and contributors to identity through storytelling. The contributors are Kristi Paatsi, Dagmar Narusson, Merle Karro-Kalberg, Hannele Valkeeniemi and Jan Kaus.