The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies is pleased to announce that Parker Watt has been awarded the 2025-2026 Baumanis Grant for Creative Projects in Baltic Studies for his documentary film project about Ukrainian artists living in Estonia.
The Baumanis Grant is an award made to honor Velta Marija Baumanis of Mount Brydges, Ontario, who left a generous bequest to AABS at the end of her career as an architect. An award of up to $7,000 is available for any creative project (e.g., book, film, exhibit, etc.) that promotes Baltic studies. Preference is given to topics with a pan-Baltic or comparative aspect. Applicants must be members of the AABS at the time of application.
The 2025 applications were evaluated by the AABS 2025-2026 Grants and Awards Committee consisting of AABS VP for Professional Development Dr. Kaarel Piirimäe, AABS President Dr. Jörg Hackmann, and AABS Director-at-Large Dr. Dovilė Budrytė. Learn about the other 2025-2026 recipients here.
Parker Watt has spent the past year as a U.S. Fulbright research student in Estonia working on a project which combines his previous experience in the film industry with his academic interests in international relations. He is creating a series of short documentary videos about how Ukrainian artists in Estonia are using their work to maintain national identity, as well as connect with their new home. Through the AABS Baumanis Grant for Creative Projects, Watt’s videos will be presented in September at VABAMU Museum of Occupations and Freedom in Tallinn. He is also affiliated with the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu, where he has been able to write and speak on developments in the Baltic region and the United States. Prior to the Fulbright, Watt received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a minor in Slavic Languages and Literature with a Russian language subplan from Stanford University.
Project Overview
Parker Watt, in partnership with VABAMU Museum of Occupations and Freedom in Tallinn, will present a series of documentary short films about Ukrainian artists living in Estonia. These videos, which he is currently producing in Estonia, are each between 5 to 10 minutes long and tell the personal stories of Ukrainian artists in the country through their own words. In doing so, the project seeks to show how the artists’ works continue Ukrainian cultural and national identity, while also serving as a mechanism of connection with Estonia. Through the Baumanis Grant for Creative Projects, this series will initially be screened at VABAMU in September and then be incorporated into an existing exhibit at the museum, Defending Freedom: Estonian Civil Society in the Russo-Ukrainian War, about how Estonian society is supporting Ukraine.
Estonia has been an active supporter of Ukraine and its citizens, especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country in 2022. There are now around 60,000 Ukrainians living in Estonia, equal to about 4.4% of the population. These individuals interact with Estonian culture, assimilate, and build new lives, while also learning to negotiate how to continue to interact with their native culture. Inevitably, their home country’s identity will blend with Estonian culture through them and have influence on their individual communities in Estonia. Therefore, this project highlights one of the many diverse groups living in the Baltic region and assimilating with their new country through the lens of the Estonian context.
By showing personalized videos, this project seeks to make their stories more tangible and relatable to audiences than those stories which become abstracted or distant through the news and media. The screening and housing of these videos at VABAMU through the Baumanis Grant for Creative Projects will foster broader engagement with the different stories of the growing Ukrainian population in Estonia. This increased exposure contributes to a growing understanding of how this community is integrating, as well as how Estonia’s support is being felt by individuals.
Parker Watt shoots film for his project on Ukrainian artists in Estonia. ©Parker Watt, 2025