You are cordially invited to the presentation of photographer Claudia Heinermann trilogy ‘Siberian Exiles’ in the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom in Tallinn on March 21 at 5.30 p.m.  To attend, please register via this link.

Provisional Program
17.15–17.30 | Walk in
17.30–17.35 | Welcome by Representative of the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
17.35–17.40 | Özlem Canel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
17.40–17.45 | Martin Andreller, Estonian Institute of Historical Memory
17.45–18.30 | Ms Claudia Heinermann (English) with Estonian translation by MS Karin Poola
18.30–19.30 | Toast with a glass of prosecco

Since 2016 Claudia Heinermann has been working on a trilogy ‘Siberian Exiles’ about the deportations from the Baltic states to Siberia under the Soviet regime. In the three parts, eyewitnesses tell of the deportation of women and children to remote parts of Siberia, life in the Gulag camps, the organized resistance against the Soviet occupier, and the beginning of the Cold War.

Claudia Heinermann traveled many times through the Baltic countries to record the impressive life stories of eyewitnesses. Based on their stories, she traveled to Siberia and Kazakhstan in search of traces of this dark chapter in history. She delved into the archives to support the stories with historical footage and wandered through the vast Baltic forests that had been a refuge for many partisans for so long. For her project ‘Siberian Exiles’ Heinermann was decorated with ‘The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana’ by President Alar Karis.

In her presentation in the Vabamu, Claudia Heinermann will show us the result of her documentary photo project and will tell us about it.

About her motivation for this trilogy Heinermann said:

No one has ever been convicted of the crimes against humanity the Soviets committed. In Putin’s Russia, Stalin’s past is again being brushed under the carpet. That is why it is so important to me to preserve the stories which were hidden from us behind the Iron Curtain. They need to be heard to contribute to a correct historiography.

Claudia Heinermann (born 1967 in Iserlohn/Germany) studied Fine Arts and documentary photography. Today she is a freelance photographer living in Delft/NL. She is dedicated primarily to long-term documentary projects and contemporary historical issues as well as genocide and the consequences of war. She has worked in countries such as Bosnia, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belgium, Germany and Rwanda. Claudia has published seven photo books so far and has contributed to numerous publications both in The Netherlands and abroad. Her works have been acquired by various Collections and shown in several museums like: National Photography Museum Rotterdam, Kamp Westerbork, Kamp Vught, Liberty Park/NL, Holocaust Museum Mechelen/Belgium, Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin as well as in galleries and photo festivals in The Netherlands, Belgium, Lithuania, Georgia, Kaliningrad and Germany.

In November 2015 she published her prize winning photo book ‘Wolfskinder A Post-War Story’. For 7 years Heinermann worked on her trilogy ‘Siberian Exiles’, which was exhibited in the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam in 2023. Between 2020 – 2023 she published all three parts of the trilogy. ‘Siberian Exiles Part 1,2 and 3’ won the silver medal for the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2020-23. ‘Siberian Exiles Part 1 and Part 3 were selected as one the best Photobooks of 2020/2022 in the Netherlands.

For more information: Claudia Heinermann ph.: + 31 6 26830952 e-mail: claudiaheinermann@gmail.com