Abandoned Estonian train station in shared memory art project

An abandoned railway station in Võru (Estonia) is filled this month with the voices of refugees and the deported, as part of the Station Talks art project.

The project has been created by film director Anna Hints based on Unitas Foundation’s Kogu Me Lugu (Collect Our Story) initiative, which collects and shares the stories of Estonian families under German and Soviet occupation.

“In the course of the year I interviewed 50 people, who were either deported or had to leave Estonia to avoid deportation, for the Collect Our Story project,” Ms Hints said. “My wish is that projects like Station Talks make viewers think about how buildings like the Võru railway station function as places where our collective memories are stored,” she added.

The installation will be opened on 4 July and will be open until 26 July, as part of the Kilometre of Sculpture festival, which takes place in a different Estonian town each year. The festival aims to provide a space in which the Estonian general public can engage with contemporary art, as well as to invest in regional development.