The building next door to the Paldiski train station bore the name “Barabinsk” for the duration of the project, signifying one of the destinations in Siberia of the deportation train that left Paldiski. Photograph: Anne Kaljas, 2019

“The Mountains Are Far, the Sea Further Still” (Mäed on kaugel, meri kaugemalgi veel) was installed next to Paldiski train station close to some benches near the platform. Photograph: Anne Kaljas, 2019

We mended one of the benches and added a window with a view of the Siberian landscape. Photograph: Anne Kaljas, 2019

Kaarel Kütas, Anne Kaljas and Tanel Rander helped construct the installation.

Blossoming Monument” ( a Novosibirsk bird cherry tree) planted next to the train station building. Photograph: Ave Taavet, 2019

​The installation “The Mountains Are Far, the Sea Further Still” (Mäed on kaugel, meri kaugemalgi veel) has two side. “The Mountains Are Far” focuses on the distance between Estonia and Siberia and the beginning of the journey. “The Sea Further Still” refers to the lives of people deported to Siberia and their longing for home. Those people who were deported from the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa were first sent to Paldiski train station. This was the last place where the islanders saw the sea before they were sent deep into the interior of Siberia and its continental climate. We combined the mountains of Siberia with the Baltic Sea visible from the platform of the train station.
 
The deportees were brought to Paldiski from the islands by boat. 65 train wagons left Paldiski train station on 29 March 1949 with 1,727 people, of whom 859 were women and 555 children. The destinations of the two-week journey were the train stations of Barabinsk, Tatarskaya, Kozhurla and Chany in Novosibirsk Oblast.
 
Our programme included hanging a sign bearing the name “Barabinsk” on the Paldiski train station building and planting a Novosibirsk bird cherry tree next to the train station building.


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