Organizer: Estonian National Museum
Venue: Estonian National Museum; Tartu, Muuseumi tee 2
Dates: September 9-13, 2019
THE AIM of the conference is to bring together, from all over the world, Time Travel specialists and those interested in Time Travel in order to discuss best practices and to exchange experiences.
Our invited keynote speakers are Merilin Piipuu (Estonian Cultural Ministry), Marten Kaevats (Government Office of Estonia) and Dr. Johanna Björkholm (National Expert Committee of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Finland).
The topic of the conference, "The freedom to travel in time", explores whether this method give us the freedom to talk about problematic or taboo topics of everyday society and can we contribute to the society by doing so?
Freedom in Time Travel
As a small country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea Estonia has had a dramatic history. Only in the middle of the 19th century did we become aware of ourselves as a nation. In the beginning of the 20th century we gained statehood, but during the 2nd World War we lost it again. During the occupation by the Soviet Union we lost a number of basic freedoms such as the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. We regained our independence in 1991, and since then we have built a strong, democratic state where people's basic freedoms are respected.
We want to focus on the importance of freedom as we still remember the time when there was none. On a personal level freedom has many facets, and each person experiences it in their own manner.
During the conference we will focus on the following themes:
How does Time Travel as a method contribute to the maintenance and development of democratic processes and personal freedom in society?
Are freedom and responsibility incompatible?
The meaning of freedom, can it mean different things to different groups?
Can we see the future by looking at current global processes? Can Time Travels help us in this?
ORGANIZERS
The Estonian National Museum was founded in Tartu in 1909 on the initiative and with the support of the nation – with the task to protect and develop the history and culture of Estonia.
The Museum is an ethnologically and cultural-historically oriented museum which aims at reflecting everyday life and culture as a way of life, taking into account its periodical, spatial and social diversity. The museum focuses on collecting, preserving and studying material concerned with the culture and history of Estonians, Estonian minorities and Finno-Ugric peoples and making it accessible.
In 2018 the Museum, together with the Estonian History and Civics Teachers Association, for the first time organized an nationwide Time Travel, with more than 8400 participating students, to the end of February of 1918, i.e. to the time when the knowledge that Estonian had gained its independence reached people in all corners of the country. In May 2019 we are organizing a Time Travel to the year 1869, when Estonia's first song festival took place. This occasion was also an important milestone in the national awakening of the Estonians.
Bridging Ages is an international organization working with heritage education and applied heritage through the Time Travel method. The organization works with museums, schools, universities and cultural and social institutions in more than 20 countries.
SUPPORTERS
ENM's permanent exhibition "Encounters". Photo: Anu Ansu
