Conference “Giving Voice to Museum Collections: Finno-Ugric and Sámi Heritage Today”
The collections of Finno-Ugric and Sámi heritage in Estonian museums are shaped by long and often contested histories. They preserve not only material objects, but also forgotten narratives: Indigenous knowledge, relationships and voices that have largely remained undocumented or marginalised.
This conference seeks to examine the histories of these collections, and, most importantly, to explore their future: how they can be activated in new and empowering ways to uncover hidden stories, amplify marginalised voices, and generate new knowledge.
We aim to create a space for discussion on rethinking collections and their futures. Particular attention will be paid to the authors, donors, and collecting practices behind the objects, as well as on consciously engaging with institutional and cultural amnesia.
How can the collections be used as a starting point for exploring new possibilities and horizons? How can we develop new ways of knowledge creation, grounded in context-sensitive and collaborative thinking, and enabling more inclusive and non-hierarchical engagement with Finno-Ugric and Indigenous themes?
A central focus of the conference is a comparative approach to decolonisation, addressing its meanings and practices across different contexts, including Sámi, Estonian and broader Eurasian frameworks, as well as in relation to specific Finno-Ugric collections. By bringing these perspectives into dialogue with global decolonial theory and practice, we seek to highlight regional particularities and to explore how this region can contribute to expanding and diversifying understandings of colonial histories and decolonial thought.
Special attention is given to the creators of the works held in museum collections and to artistic research as a practice for exploring how interdisciplinary approaches can help spotlight marginalised voices and open up new ways of engaging with and interpreting collections.
The three-day conference is organised into thematic sections, in which scholars and artists from different fields address the historical and contemporary meanings of collections, and creating and communicating future-oriented knowledge.
The conference is being jointly organised by the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Art Museum of Estonia and the Estonian National Museum.
