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EESTI ELU reedel, 24. juunil 2022 — Friday, June 24, 2022
On the Wall: the benefits of handmade pottery as shown by Ella Katarina Valge-Saar Vincent Teetsov Take a look at the cup and mug collection in your kitchen cupboard and what do you see? Delicate tea cups? Printed mugs with the names of cities and countries you’ve visited? Cartoon images of Mr. Men and Little Miss characters? Many of them are probably of similar sizes and standard shapes. Even if you have a huge col lection of ceramic items, there’s probably one item that you gravitate towards more than the others. The reason for this may be because it has memories of good times associated with it. Because it reminds you of a certain vacation, or because it offers a snapshot of your personality. Or it could just be physically different enough that it always stands out from the others. Examining the pottery crea tions of Ella Katarina ValgeSaar, one will see atypical textures, undulations, and out lines that could become one of the aforementioned favourite pottery pieces. Tea bowls, drinking sets, mugs, and tumb lers: Valge-Saar crafts pieces that could sit sympathetically in a woodland setting or blend into the side of a mountain just as well as it rests on the kitchen counter. Her educational background and the surroundings of her home make sense of this. Valge-
“Back to Our Roots!” Youth Exchange in Estonia Organized by: Seiklejate Vennaskond Dates of activities: 11th – 22nd of September 2022 Description: Youth exchange brings together 30 young people aged 18–30 of Estonian origin; 20 living abroad and 10 from Estonia. The programme: The goal for all of the activities is to bridge the gap between an expat and their Estonian roots. This will be achieved by: • introducing the Estonian his tory and cultural heritage to young Estonians living abroad; • sharing Estonian success stories, planned future develop ments; • teaching participants the Estonian language in the nonformal learning environment;
Saar has studied biology as well as obtaining a BFA in ceramics at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2016. As a forest ry fieldworker and avid hiker (living in Canmore, Alberta), she has imbued her ceramic art with echoes of the landscapes and ecosystems she has closely observed. Elements of these places are physically integrated into these items, too, though. Valge-Saar states, “I strive to involve my self and others in meaningful relationships with the places we move through; to remind of the intricacies of our ecology I integrate local minerals and narratives to evoke memories, contemplations and metaphors of the environment.” Look closely at these vessels, and you’ll notice handles and other components in which granite, limestone, and quartz are in tegrated into the pottery. One key reason why one probably reaches for custom ceramic mugs and such more than others is because the slight imperfections of a handmade piece are appealing to one’s human nature. Sometimes with out even realizing it. It has more heart. As such, we em brace imperfections that give an object that extra edge or per sonality; a state of mind that is known in Japanese aesthetic philosophy as wabi-sabi. On the other hand, custom ceramics can offer a perfect
• providing information about work and study opportunities in Estonia; • introducing Estonian gover nance system; • creating a network for young people of Estonian origin that will support repatriation. Activities may be subject to change due to Covid19 related restrictions. The programme consists of various activities organized in different parts of Estonia. The youth exchange pro gramme is organized by youth organization Seiklejate Vennas kond, coordinated by Estonian Youth Work Centre and fi nanced by the Compatriots Programme of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. Profile of participants (com ing from abroad): • Age 18-30; • Estonian roots, but living
TRIINU LUMI kinnisvarafirma müügiesindaja BURLINGTON • HAMILTON • NIAGARA
Right At Home Realty Inc. triinu@triinulumi.com mobiil 289-442-5390 kontor 905-637-1700 fax 905-637-1070
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An update from Northern Birch Credit Union – branch locations
Ella Katarina Valge-Saar mug for Meeskoor.
balance of weight, such as when a mug’s bottom is not too heavy or thick. A well propor tioned rim and a handle that’s big enough to comfortably fit your hand into makes drinking so much easier. More recently, Valge-Saar has designed and crafted limited edition commemorative blue, black, and white mugs for Toronto Eesti Meeskoor’s (Toron to Estonian Male Choir) 70th anniversary. The 375 milli litre mug has a well propor tioned base. The top is glazed with a shinier glaze, elegantly contrasting with the matte pottery on the bottom of the mug. On this lower section, the choir’s motto – “Alati sinule kodumaa, kõlagu vabade meeste laul!” (“Always for you my homeland, may the song of free men ring out!”) – reminds the user of the larger meaning behind the work of art. Thus, a “perfect” factory mug may not actually suit its user as well as expected. All of these little details, both useful and beautiful, make simple mo ments like a morning cup of coffee more distinct.
abroad for at least 10 years; • Motivation to learn and prac tice Estonian; • Willingness to participate in whole programme of youth exchange. Costs related to participation: If selected, all costs within Estonia are covered 100%, including accommodation, food, local transport, visits and excur sions. Travel costs will be reim bursed after the exchange up to 300€ based on actual costs. There could be exceptions of increasing/decreasing the limit depending on the overall travel budget and the distance of indi vidual journey. For instance, as travel costs from neighbouring countries are under the limit and from more distant countries over the limit, it will be balanced to be fair to everyone. Visa (if needed) is the responsibility of each participant, but organizers can provide assistance in getting the travel documents. Travel insurance is obligatory and can be obtained by the participant. This cost will not be reim bursed. Additional information and questions: rahvuskaaslased@gmail.com – all questions are welcome! Apply ASAP. Application form and additional information: http://www.seikle jad.org/rahvuskaaslased.html
June 15th, 2022 Dear members, At the recent Northern Birch Credit Union Annual General Meeting, a special resolution was passed to move our Head Office address from our Estonian House Branch at 958 Broadview Avenue to our Latvian Centre Branch at 4 Credit Union Drive. As many of you know, the Toronto Estonian House activi ties will be moving to the new KESKUS International Estonian Centre currently being built on Madison Avenue downtown Toronto. Northern Birch Credit Union will have a flagship branch at this location once the building is completed. Con struction of KESKUS has begun. In the meantime, the Esto nian House and its current tenants have been notified that the leaseback is likely to expire at the end of October 2022, meaning we would need to move out of the building by then. We have put move plans in place to ensure our members will continue to be served with out interruption. Move activities will continue over the next few months and affect all three NBCU branches. What does that mean for our members? • We will continue to serve you from our Estonian House Branch as long as possible. Updates will be provided. • Our Latvian Centre Branch continues to serve our mem bers. We will be leasing addi tional space to help meet our growing staff and member needs at this branch location. • We are committed to opening a new flagship branch at the
The realities… (Continued from page 10)
to stay here, for Amira’s future, for the quality of life. But as an Iranian-Ukrainian family, it’s difficult to persuade Liliia to stay because her soul and her mind remain with her family and country. Has Toomas introduced you to the Estonian commu nity? I never had any idea about Estonian people before. Now that we’ve visited a few Estonians with Toomas, I un derstand what nice, sociable people they are. I’m really in terested in going to Estonia now. We appreciate their support, especially of our host Toomas. He really pushes us to do our best and to settle here com pletely. We really appreciate the support of Canada, all Canadian people. The brilliant help of our community here. And also other countries who stand with Ukraine. We appreciate it so much. Toomas Marley expresses that he is very happy to host
KESKUS International Estonian Centre on Madison Avenue downtown Toronto. Construc tion on this building has begun and we plan to start fitting out the branch in late 2023. • Our Hamilton Branch con tinues to be open to serve mem bers in Southwestern Ontario. You may notice some small renovations happening in that space, to help better meet member needs. We are also excited to an nounce that we will be opening a small branch inside Tartu College, at 310 Bloor Street West, as an interim solution while our KESKUS branch is being built. This branch is fully accessible from TTC’s Spadina Station and provides easy access for those in the west-end of Toronto. We plan to open this mini-branch in the fall of 2022. Our teams continue to be here to serve you both in-per son and over the phone, and as always, your accounts are ac cessible online and through NBCU’s mobile banking app. We will post status updates on our website. Stay tuned. We encourage all members to sign up for our e- newsletter via our website, to have news and up dates delivered directly to your inbox. Thank you to our members for your continued support. We look forward to what the future brings! THE TEAM AT NORTHERN BIRCH CREDIT UNION www.northernbirchcu. com
the Ukrainian guests, describ ing how they are “hard-work ing, very independent and getting to know Toronto very well.” Moreover, Marley has never eaten as much delicious borscht as now. He adds, “Anyone with an extra bed room should consider housing Ukrainians. Our parents needed housing 78 years ago.” The guests and Toomas are very grateful to everyone who has donated furniture and bedding. Most recently, the Harati family has found a one-bedroom apartment in Davisville Village with occu pancy starting in the middle of July. They will need every thing which an empty apart ment requires. Please contact Toomas at tom@tommarley.com to ad vise what you can contribute. He owns a Dodge Caravan, so is able to pick up these dona tions on behalf of the family. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)
