Memories come alive

What to do with the wisdom, experiences, and memories we have gathered over our lifetime, and the memories we have so dearly cherished? These memories are the culture, history, customs, traditions, lifestyle, and morality of our people, which tend to be lost in the fast pace of modern life and times of change.

The international project “House of Memories” based on the memory work of the elderly originated in England in 1983, and was created by Pan Schweitzer. “House of Memories” is a comprehensive project for working with the elderly to provide an opportunity to value their autumn, help them remember the beautiful and valuable years they have lived, open up human creativity, and strengthen ties between the elderly of different generations and different countries. The main emphasis is on preserving the memories of ordinary and simple people. The activities of the “House of Memories” project have expanded to many European countries: Finland, Germany, Bulgaria, France, etc. It is becoming one of the forums for civic action and cultural exchange in the European Union – the Memory of Europe. The project is being developed further and is now called “Memories come alive”.

The book brings together the memories of many elderly Estonians in the form of memory boxes, memorial plays and written memoirs. Illustrated with black-and-white and colour photographs.

Keywords
Creator (non-profit organisation). Memories come alive, project
Estonia
lifecourse
history
cultural history
historical sources
objects
memories
collecting
international projects
international cooperation