After six months of renovations, the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Vabamu has reopened its doors to the public with a new permanent exhibition. The new permanent exhibition was launched with a 15-hour marathon, during which the museum was open from 9 AM to midnight.
The first ticket for the new permanent exhibition “Freedom Has No Limits” was sold by the Minister of Culture, Indrek Saar. Throughout the day, tickets were also sold by artist Kaido Ole, poets Doris Kareva and Eda Ahi, actress and educator Anu Lamp, historian David Vseviov, Shiftworks CEO Helen Sildna, and others. On the museum courtyard stage, musical performances expressing the characteristic sounds and attitudes of different eras were given by J.M.K.E, Regatt, Silver Sepp, and meisterjaan. Throughout the day, Janek Murd, Annie Rist, and Erik Morna selected music from various eras and styles.
The exhibition ‘Freedom Without Borders’ speaks of occupation, resistance, freedom, and recovery. It consists of five parts: crimes against humanity, Estonians in the free world, life in Soviet Estonia, the restoration of independence, and freedom.
Crimes Against Humanity looks back at the moments in our recent history when a general lack of humanity stifled the people living here.
The items and visuals in Estonians in the Free World tell the story of Estonians across borders, in exile.
The section of the exhibition focusing on Soviet Estonia is divided into two parts. First, we cover the introduction of the Soviet regime and the ideological choices faced by individuals. The second major theme addresses the cultural peculiarities and characteristics of everyday life in the Soviet Union.
The floor housing Restoration of Independence focuses on the period of the Singing Revolution and the restoration of independence spanning from the Phosphorite War of 1987 to Estonia’s accession to the European Union in 2004. The exhibition centres around eight people who are not mentioned in the annals of history.
The portion on Freedom examines freedom as a state of tension, in which a balance must be struck between freedoms and responsibilities.
The creation of the new permanent exhibition involved both in-house and outside specialists. The curator of the theme on crimes against humanity is Sander Jürisson. Escape from the Second World War and the life of Estonians in exile is unveiled by the University of Tallinn doctoral student and junior researcher Maarja Merivoo-Parro. The curator of the Soviet life portion of the exhibition is Tallinn University lecturer Uku Lember, PhD. The section on the restoration of independence was prepared by Oxford University postdoctoral researcher Aro Velmet, PhD. The subject matter for the section focusing on freedom was co-created by communications expert Daniel Vaarik and artist Kaido Ole. The musical interior of the courtyard was created by the musician Taavi Tulev.
Vabamu is the largest active non-profit museum in Estory.
