8.11.2024 – 20.04.2025
Fat Margaret
Primarily an association of polar researchers, the Estonian Polar Club has been operating at the Estonian Maritime Museum since 1 December 1984. The founding date was chosen in honour of the Antarctic Treaty, concluded 25 years earlier, which to this day regulates all important operations in Antarctica.
The first president of the club, academician Jüri Martin: ‘The Maritime Museum organised exhibitions introducing the oceans, and Antarctica could not be left out. So people who had been to Antarctica came together. This was easy enough, as most of them already knew each other from their university days. Of course Enn Kreem, Andres Tarand, and myself as well. We talked things over, and that’s the kind of association that formed. These were times when clubs couldn’t operate on their own and the Maritime Museum took us under its umbrella. And that’s how it’s been until now.’
The main tasks of the club have been uniting people who have participated in polar expeditions, introducing polar topics to the general public, cooperation with international and foreign polar organisations, and advising on Arctic and Antarctic issues. As a partner of the Estonian Maritime Museum, preserving Estonia’s polar heritage has become more important in the recent years.
The fields of activity of the members have been varied: meteorology, climatology, physics, geography, geology, biology, medicine, lake studies, history, ethnology, cinematography, architecture, journalism, philology, law, polar aviation, polar navigation, etc.
In order to become a member of the club, one must either be a polar researcher or have contributed to the study of polar regions or to promoting of the field with their activities, and two recommenders from among the club members are also required.
Chief Executive of the Polar Club and the curator of the exhibition, Katrin Savomägi: ‘Over the decades, polar-themed events and forums organised at the Maritime Museum have brought people closer to these distant cold and sometimes extreme places in the Arctic and Antarctica.’
The exhibition gives an overview of the club’s founding, early years, and activities through the decades. The club has also successfully engaged in youth work, encouraging young people with scholarships, and involving them in expeditions to arouse and nurture their interest in polar sciences.
Exhibition team
Curators: Katrin Savomägi (Estonian Polar Club), Alo Ervin (Estonian Maritime Museum)
Team: Anna-Liisa Õispuu, Roman Matkiewicz, Iris Tomson, Mirjam Mardi, Valter Vaht, Helina Torv
Exhibition design, graphic design: Kärt Talvik (Fly Illustration)
Language editor: Hille Saluäär
Translation: Toimetaja tõlkebüroo
Printing: OÜ Grano Digital
Special thanks to:
Edgar Karofeld, Tõnu Martma, Priit Tisler, Martin Liira, Vallo Kelmsaar, Kadi Karine, Andres Eero, Evelyn Silmet, Eve Paavel, Oksana Leontjeva, ERR Archive