Foreword by Mona Sahlin

The Estonia disaster shocked millions of people and
became a common tragedy for Sweden, Estonia and Finland.
Our countries has been influenced and individuals have been deeply affected.

As with all shocking news the memory stays on of where one was and what one was doing when the news of the sinking of the Estonia broke, that windy night and the following sunny September morning 1994.

And we who were left all live on with the Estonia. In conversations about large events that has affected us.
When we look out over vast waters or when we remember those near and dear to us that are gone.

During the just over five years that has passed since the sinking of the Estonia we have met many times. In a common grief and sense of loss at ceremonies in many places, both at land and at sea. We have also met to try to and find out what happened after the disaster, most of all in Sweden and in Estonia.

I lived near the disaster through my work during an intensive period 1998-99. Then I met many who had been hit the hardest because of what happened. That period taught me to respect every single individuals experience of the Estonia disaster. It also gave me insight to the fact that we all need to open our minds, give each other more time to meet each other, listen and reflect. This does not only count when we are hit the hardest at different faces of our lives. And it taught me once again that grief can look every different. And that all ways to grieve are the right ones.

The art exhibition that now has been mounted gives us new possibilities to meetings. I feel happy that this project has become a reality and I will take the opportunity to remember and reflect again. I am also curious as to my own and others reactions. Slow down the pace and open your mind.
Give the artworks and each other time to tell the story and
give impressions. Take the opportunity to talk, again and
again, about the Estonia about our selves and about the future.


Mona Sahlin