Place: Unguriņi, Valmiera municipality
Timeframe: short to medium time frame. Exhibition at Unguriņi-Lilli (Latvian – Estonian) border
Organiser: Valmiera municipality
Participants: Project manager, interviewer, CCI-partner – New Media Group of the Rūjiena House of Culture – 5 students and teacher of photography, artist/designer/modeler, translators, carpenters were involved in the production of the exhibition. The activity also involved 28 residents from Latvia – Estonia border area -Ungurini (LV), Lode (LV), Arakste (LV), Penuja (EE) and Lilli (EE), the youngest being only 10 and the oldest reaching 90.
The CCI partner was the members of the New Media Group of the Rūjiena House of Culture, photographs of the exhibition. The participants consisted of 5 students and teacher of photography. Their task was to participate in all expeditions and make photo fixations during the expeditions with the people to be interviewed. They also had to select and process the photos for the exhibition.
Goal: Through the story telling to restore the connection between the residents living on the Latvian-Estonian border, get to know each other and meet together. Through this activity strengthening intersectoral cooperation, local community’s involvement and local identity.
WHAT IS IT?
The aim of the project was to create a bilingual (LV and EST) environmental, digital exhibition “Postcards from the border” at the Unguriņi border point in Valmiera municipality.
The environmental and digital exhibition was opened on 23.08.2024, a 35-year anniversary event of the Baltic Road at the Ungurini border point, and it was open until 07.10.2024. The digital exhibition can still be viewed on the website – https://pastkartesnopierobezas.my.canva.site/
During the activity, content research was carried out by going on expeditions to the border areas of Latvia – Estonia, approximately 5 km from the border, in both directions, which is also a very sparsely populated area. Interviews were randomly selected by going to homes and knocking on doors, so the conversations were not staged, and the characters were authentic.
Together with the creative team of the exhibition and members of the Rūjiena media group, 3 expeditions took place on the Latvian-Estonian border – around Ipiķu, Arakste, Unguriņa, Ķoņi (LV), Lilli, Penuja, Lātre (EST) and a total of 28 residents were interviewed.
The interviews were conducted by a selected person who recorded these interviews on a dictaphone and then transcribed them. An interpreter participated in the Estonian expedition, who helped to communicate with people living on the Estonian side. A total of 28 people were interviewed, the youngest was 10 years old and the oldest was almost 90. The interviews asked about life in the border area, how long they had lived in this area, about the houses they lived in, about relationships with neighbors, in Latvia and Estonia.
HOW TO?
The main message of the exhibition is the life stories of the Latvian-Estonian border residents, their customs, values, beliefs – how similar or different they are, valuing the commonalities and at the same time highlighting the differences between the two cultures. With the help of the activity, intended to update the mutual cooperation between Latvia and Estonia in the field of culture, as well as to search for and emphasise the commonality of both cultures. The exhibition was made concise, understandable and personal for all its visitors.
Through storytelling and exhibition, the connection between residents of the Latvian-Estonian border region was strengthened, interdisciplinary cooperation was promoted, local community engagement was encouraged, and the reinforcement of local identity was fostered.
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