Resilient Expression: Ukrainian Artists in Estonia

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has been a leader in providing refuge to the Ukrainian people. At the start of the war, Estonia accepted the most Ukrainians per capita of any country in the world, and it remains among the top three, behind Czechia and Poland. There are now approximately 60,000 Ukrainians in Estonia, representing about 4.4% of the population. Three-quarters of these Ukrainians have arrived since 2022. These individuals must negotiate how to maintain their cultural identity while integrating and building new lives abroad. 

Ukrainian artists play a critical role in cultural preservation for the Ukrainian community in Estonia. Their work draws on traditions from the past, reflects their experience in the present, and defines what Ukrainian culture is for the future as their homeland is under attack. As they establish themselves, their work creates spaces for healing and helps them to connect with Estonian people and culture.  

Parker Watt created this series of short films over the past year to highlight personal stories that can be abstracted when discussing the events of war and their effects in the media. Each video tells the story of a single Ukrainian artist or artistic group living and working in Estonia and focuses on how their work serves as a mode of healing, cultural continuation, and integration in Estonia. 

This project was made possible by the Fulbright Student Research Grant as well as the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies’ Baumanis Grant for Creative Projects in Baltic Studies. 

Parker Watt is passionate about finding human stories in international events and introducing them through film. While in Estonia, he was affiliated with the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu, where he continued to write and speak on developments in the Baltic region and the United States. His previous film experience includes serving as an Assistant to the Director on two independent professional film sets and as a Production Assistant on the Netflix series Pieces of Her. Before his Fulbright project, Parker received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a minor in Slavic Languages and Literature from Stanford.