Embroidering Estonians: the tapestry of the Estonian Book Year reaches Estonians living abroad
Piret Noorhani
Chief Archivist of VEMU
2025 is the Year of the Estonian Book, celebrating 500 years since the first publication containing the Estonian language. Events marking this occasion will take place both in Estonia and other locations where Estonians live.
One of the most fun things that brings book lovers together is the joint embroidering of the tapestry celebrating the year. The idea was conceived by Krista Aru, who left us too soon. Together with Mart Jagomägi, she had selected the book-related historic events that are captured on the tapestry, and Aivar Põldvee contributed with historical facts. The story of the Estonian book was drawn by Brigitte Mihkelson, Inger Tammela, Kristiin Kuuslap, Marite Rikkas and Sofia Lanman, who are students of the Textile Department of the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. They were supervised by Professor Aet Ollisaar and Marju Roos, Head of the Textile Department of Pallas. The tapestry has travelled around Estonia since March so that everyone interested could contribute to its creation.
In the spring, before the 5th Estonian Music Week (EMW) in Toronto, the Estonian Museum in Canada (VEMU) that organised the event, was looking for ideas for interactive activities at the EWM Village Party. We asked Mart Jagomägi, a member of the main committee of the Estonian Book Year, whether it would be possible for Toronto Estonians to participate in the tapestry project. Unfortunately, it turned out that the tapestry’s route in Estonia was completely set and Toronto did not fit there at all. After a short discussion, we reached a decision: the Estonian tapestry will have a twin, a second 17-metre tapestry will be made, divided into five sections and sent to travel around the world. In addition to Canada, the tapestries are now moving around Australia, USA, Finland and many parts of Europe.
In Canada, the tapestry has been embroidered several times in addition to the EMW Village Party. In June and July, it was at the Seedrioru summer celebrations and children’s camp. The tapestry went to Kotkajärve Forest University in August and to Nou Pois Äläud dance camp in Jõekääru in September, organised by the International Estonian Centre in Canada, a charity associated with the new megaproject KESKUS. In September, the tapestry was also embroidered at the VEMU Book Year event ‘Turning Pages Through Time: A Seminar Dedicated to 500 Years of the Estonian Book and Literary Culture’, as well as on the 55th anniversary of Tartu College and at the opening of a travelling exhibition compiled by the National Library and Joonas Sildre to mark the Estonian Book Year. In October, in addition to Estonians, Latvians also participated in the tapestry project at the joint Oktoberfest of the two communities. In October, the tapestry also went to the Toronto Estonian Society Supplementary School. In early November, Estonian educational specialists met with local Estonians. At the event, both locals and guests participated in the embroidering. On 8 November, the tapestry was handed over to the visitors of the VEMU book fair. Embroidering has also been a part of the meetings of academic women’s organizations. Upcoming embroidery events will take place in other cities and at the great Estonian national Christmas tree in Toronto. In Seedriorg, the embroidery enthusiasts were assisted and supervised by Merike Koger and Anne Remmel, and in Toronto by Liis Teedla, Helle Arro and Maaja Matsoo.
A section of the tapestry for Continental Europe began its journey in Denmark, subsequently migrating to the Netherlands and Switzerland and arriving in Germany by the end of November. A few impressions from there – Krõõt Kaljusto-Munck from the Estonian Embassy in Copenhagen recounts the journey.
“Thanks to Lemmi Tui, a participant in the literary café, the Estonians in Copenhagen had the opportunity to embroider themselves into history. The tapestry brought people together for several weeks – the needle and thread were used diligently, and whoever tried it once kept coming back. The embroidering took place in Copenhagen on 27 August, 30 August, 3 September, 6 September and 10 September. Men were represented by Ambassador Andre Pung and musician Villu Veski. On 3 September, Prime Minister Kristen Michal arrived at the embassy and talked to the embroiderers.
In the Netherlands, the tapestry was embroidered in Rotterdam in the series of events of the Estonian Book Year titled ‘Cultural Duets’, with Tõnu Õnnepalu and Jaan Tootsen attending as guests on 28 September, Urmas Vadi and Piret Raud on 11 October and Lauri Räpp and Justin Petrone on 15 November. But embroidering was also done in the local Estonian school and Estonian homes. The transport of the tapestry was organised by Kaire van der Toorn Guthan.”
In early November, the same section of the tapestry moved to Switzerland, first to Bern, where the coordinator is Kaja Kumer-Haukamõmm, then to Geneva, where the embroidering is organised by Anna-Kristiina Pae. Next up is Germany: Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. The transport of the tapestry is coordinated by Katri Helena Hackländer.
In Finland, a lot has been achieved in a short period of time, and even more is planned. Koidu Oja, a teacher of Estonian language and culture, is responsible for the tapestry’s journey and supervises the work and recounts the developments.
“The journey of the Book Year tapestry in Finland began on Teachers’ Day, 4 October, when the Estonian-language Education Society in cooperation with the Estonian Embassy in Finland organized the traditional Teachers’ Day event. Estonian teachers working in Finland gathered at the embassy for the whole day to first participate in the training supervised by literary researcher and therapist Berit Kaschan and then mark the Teachers’ Day in a more cheerful way. Trainer Berit Kaschan gave many useful tips to teachers. The idea behind the training was that as long as there is a story, there is life. The tapestry of the Estonian Book Year also tells the story of the history of our written language.
The tapestry then travelled to the Finnish cities of Lohja, Jyväskylä and Vantaa. Upcoming stops include Rovaniemi and Tampere. The tapestry has been embroidered by Estonian children, native Estonian language students, their parents and Estophiles. In Vantaa, the children embroidered with the children’s author Triinu Laan, who came to visit from Võrumaa.
The most massive tapestry embroidering event is held in the activity room of Mardilaat, the festival of Estonian culture, in Helsinki on 15-16 November. Mardilaat is visited by thousands of people. Unfortunately, only a dozen can embroider at a time. It can be said that embroidering a tapestry in Finland is a success, because there are plans to repeat the workshop.
In late September, tapestry embroidery began at the Estonian House in New York, where the work lasted until the end of October. There were four events in total. The tapestry then moved on to Lakewood Estonian House, where it will remain until the end of November. The next journey will take the tapestry to Washington (December) and the last stop before Estonia will be the Estonian community of Chicago (January).
A total of 24 people participated in embroidering the tapestry in New York City, including five teenagers and children who came with their parents and also added their small but touching contributions. Many of the participants had not embroidered for a long time or at all, so it took some time to recall or learn the techniques.
Elke Liisa Lõhmus, who coordinates the tapestry’s journey in the USA, finds that the most beautiful part of the venture is the opportunity to spend time together and get to know each other better. The joint embroidering event will become not only a creative experience, but also a community experience that will surely be remembered by the participants.
On 26 October, the Estonian House in Sydney, Australia, hosted by the Art, Crafts and Ethnography Circle of the Sydney Estonian Society, held a joint event with coffee and snacks. We owe the success of the event to Ave Nukk, chairwoman of the Sydney Estonian Society and photographer Esmée Okamoto. The next embroidering event will take place in Sydney on 16 November.
If your group or friends would also be interested in embroidering, contact your community activists or email piret.noorhani@vemu.ca and we’ll help deliver the tapestry to you.
Anyone with a needle in their hand can do the embroidery. The images are printed in colour on the tapestry and the yarns are provided. The embroiderers must only bring their own needles. You can find the tutorials and instructions on the website: https://bookyear.ee/en/programme/Estonian-book-year-great-tapestry-500-year-old-Estonian-book .
The embroidering events will run until February 2026. The sections will then travel back to Estonia to conclude the Year of the Estonian Book. There they are sewn together into one long 17-metre tapestry, which will find its final home in VEMU. The tapestry embroidered in Estonia will be deposited with the Estonian National Museum.
Koidu Oja summarised the experience of Finnish Estonians in this way: “The embroiderers have mentioned that the last time they held a needle with yarn was during a handicraft class at school. When they first started embroidering, there was talk and story-sharing, but a meditative peace and joy from working with your hands then sets in.” Yes, the author must admit that for her too, the last time she embroidered was in school.
There are those for whom the pictorial tapestry of the Estonian Book Year was their very first embroidery experience. VEMU team member Kati Kiilaspea is one of them. A few days ago, I heard that she has now acquired all the necessary tools for embroidery and is planning to take it up seriously. Isn’t it great that the embroidery tradition of Estonian women is also rising from the ashes thanks to the Estonian Book Year?
However, the tapestry campaign has also fulfilled the main purpose of the action, which is to teach the history of Estonian-language books. We must be grateful to Krista Aru and everyone else who started this worthwhile venture. VEMU thanks the members of the General Committee of the Estonian Book Year, local coordinators, embroiders and everyone else who has contributed to the tapestry project for their cooperation. Special thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign representations that have contributed to the transport of the tapestry. We can only conclude by saying: let’s keep embroidering!
