Paper Short Abstract:

This paper explores ways to actively intervene in museum exhibitions and rewrite the conventional modes of representing 20th-century experiences. It focuses on two examples from memory and museum research in Estonia.

Paper Abstract:

Museum exhibitions are rarely linear; their aim is to be dialogical in nature. However, in many cultural history exhibitions, the main narrative remains hegemonic, highlighting the experiences of only certain groups.

Within the framework of our research project we examine ways to promote mnemonic plurality in Baltic cultural history museums. In addition to research and publications, the project aimed to actively intervene in museum exhibitions. I will explore here the possibilities available to memory researchers for extending and reshaping history museum exhibitions.

I will focus on two interventions: an additional audio layer featuring LGBT+ stories at the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Vabamu (Tallinn, 2023), and a small exhibition based on audio-visual biographical interviews conducted in Russian at the Estonian National Museum (Tartu, 2024).

During the creation of the LGBT+ exhibit “From ‘Such People’ to LGBT Activism” heated debates were unfolding in Estonian society surrounding the marriage equality law. The development of the “ Lõige/Razrez/Mine" exhibition, centered on the experience of Northwast-Estonian mining community, was influenced by the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. This context increased mistrust towards the Russian-speaking community in the society and posed significant challenges for the exhibition team.

In this paper, I will explore the ideological, museographical and artistic choices we made during the preparation of these exhibitions. I will attempt to evaluate how successful we were in maintaining and asserting our critical positions. The work presented here is part of the research project “Practices and Challenges of Mnemonic Pluralism in Baltic History Museums" (2021-25)