Ingrians – Hidden Stories

The exhibition “Ingrians—Hidden Stories” is largely based on the journey of Finnish journalists Lea and Santeri Pakkanen, father and daughter, as they explored their roots. They were accompanied by acclaimed Finnish photographer Meeri Koutaniemi, known for her focus on human rights issues. Together, they travelled through Ingria and Russia, visiting former prison camps and deportation sites. The material from their journey formed the basis of an exhibition first presented at the Finnish National Museum in 2020.

This exhibition, in collaboration with the Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre and the Finnish Institute, reuses some original material but includes numerous unpublished works. Video interviews with Ingrian Finns living in Estonia, specially produced for this exhibition, provide a contemporary perspective on the Ingrian identity.

In Estonia, little is known about the systematic destruction of Ingrian Finnish culture, as two generations of silence have erased much of the knowledge from the Ingrians’ memory. Yet, the story of the Ingrian Finns is also a part of the shared history on both sides of the Gulf of Finland. For this reason, the Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre is bringing the hidden stories of Ingrian Finns to an Estonian audience.

Today, only about a thousand Ingrian Finns remain around St. Petersburg in what was once Ingria, with most of the population scattered across Finland, Estonia, and Sweden. While the Soviet Union nearly succeeded in eradicating the Ingrian Finns as a distinct people, it did not succeed entirely. Branded as “harmful elements” in the Soviet Union because of their ethnicity, Ingrian Finns learned to conceal their language and roots so thoroughly that even children were no longer taught their mother tongue. Fear of arrests, deportations, and executions, along with the need to hide their identity, became central to the history of the Ingrian Finns. When the opportunity to tell their stories finally arose, the fear buried deep within lingered.

This fear is echoed by Robert Makkonen, an Ingrian Finn portrayed in the exhibition who left Estonia: “During my school years in Soviet Estonia, Ingrian Finns were never mentioned, and it was better to remain completely silent about it.” Due to their tragic and silenced history, many Ingrians have forgotten their roots and lost their connection to their heritage. Many people with surnames ending in “-nen” might wonder whether they have Ingrian or Finnish ancestry in their family.

Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine demonstrates that Russia continues to assimilate, subjugate, and destroy smaller ethnic groups within its territory and in neighbouring countries. Russia’s policies are exemplified by the cancellation of this exhibition in Russia. It was scheduled to open at the Rosfoto Museum in St. Petersburg in October 2021. A month before the opening, when the works had already been delivered to the museum, the exhibition was cancelled. Officials claimed they had only just reviewed the exhibition texts. Russian media stated that the cancellation was due to the material “distorting historical facts.”

“That feeling of belonging to a group that has been targeted for destruction is truly unsettling,” said 21-year-old Sonja Nüganen in an interview for the exhibition. “But here I am. We have survived – that is our way of thumbing our noses at Stalin.”

As Estonians, representatives of a small nation, we should know more about the fate of our kindred people. With this exhibition, we aim to contribute to filling this gap through Meeri Koutaniemi’s visually captivating photo stories, videos by Hannele Valkeeniemi and Antti Häkli, and insightful research by Lea and Santeri Pakkanen. We hope the exhibition inspires visitors to reflect on their own identity and origins and perhaps encourages some to uncover their family’s untold stories.

The exhibition is designed to allow visitors to experience both the act of concealment and revelation. A crucial question is whether we, too, are willing to take steps to see and hear. We hope everyone contributes to ensuring that the era of silence, concealment, persecution, and indifference toward the Ingrian Finns and other similarly “forgotten” (read: destroyed) people is over and never repeats. We sincerely hope we, as a nation, dare to apologize for not being more interested in the fate and stories of the Ingrian Finns and for failing to show greater care and empathy.

Greete Putta, an Ingrian Finn who returned to Finland with her family in the early 1990s, stated: “It is very difficult to explain to others the pain of being an Ingrian Finn in a way they can understand. … I wish we were included in school curricula. That would send a clear message: you, too, are part of this land and its history.”

The exhibition curators are Kristel Aimeé Laur and Toomas Järvet. The video interviews with Ingrian Finns living in Estonia were produced by Hannele Valkeeniemi and Antti Häkli, and Taisto Raudalainen served as a consultant for the Estonian-language exhibition materials.

Texts were written by Lea Pakkanen, Santeri Pakkanen, Taisto Raudalainen, Hannele Valkeeniemi, Toomas Järvet, and Kristel Aimeé Laur. Translations into Estonian were provided by Peep Ehasalu and Taisto Raudalainen.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Institute, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Ministry of Education and Research’s Kindred Peoples Program, M. A. Castrén Society, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, and Forus.

The permanent partners of the Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre are Telliskivi Creative City, Artproof, Taevas Ogilvy, Ajar Studios, Tikkurila, and Pakendi.