Keiu Telve

Keiu Telve has been active in the museum field of the Estonian since 2012. She has previously worked in Tartu City Museum as curator of education programs. Keiu has led the 3-year-long community project Over the River, she is one of the authors of a dictionary for museum education and initiated the nationally recognised school-project Museum in a Suitcase. Her last and most prominent project was the travelling exhibition in North-America “Masters of Our Own Homes: Estonia 100”.

Keiu Telve is finishing her PhD thesis "Family Life across the Gulf: Cross-Border Commuters’ Transnational Families between Estonia and Finland" at the Department of Ethnology at the University of Tartu and she is also a co-founder of the Center for Applied Anthropology of Estonia. Starting from 2019 she is the Executive Director of Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom.

Inspiriting People to Protect Their Freedom – The Role of Museums in Building Inclusive Societies 

The Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom recounts the story of the Estonian people from occupation to independence and inspires people stand up for their freedom. We educate, engage, and encourage Estonian people and visitors to reflect on recent history, feel the fragile nature of freedom, and stand up for liberty and justice. 

Two out of our four key values are inclusive discussion and vibrant opinions. We initiate discussions to bring people together. We are open to different perspectives and create opportunities for people to exchange their opinions and encourage them to carry on the ideals of liberty. At the same time we stand for the freedom of expression, opinion, religion, mobility, enterprise, and all the other forms of freedoms. We remember how these freedoms have been repressed in the past, and ensure that they are rebuilt and reimagined in the present.

The presentation shares the examples how Vabamu museum has promoted the growth of peaceful and inclusive society. Concentrate on the three examples – the permanent exhibition Freedom Without Borders, the temporary exhibition Balti Way 30: One History, Two Million Stories and the events from museum program – we show how we try to activate communities’ sense of citizenship.

At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2019, Keiu Telve will join “Panel 2 - Peace, Justice, Strong Institutions” together with Višnja Kisić, University of Belgrade, and Maria Vlachou, Acesso Cultura, on Friday 8 November.