Kristin Kuutma, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Tartu and Head of the UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage, has passed away on 16 May 2025. A distinguished anthropologist, ethnologist, and folklorist, she was a deeply influential voice in shaping the understanding of cultural heritage.
Kristin Kuutma was born in Tallinn, Estonia and spent her childhood and youth in Northern Tallinn and the coastal villages of the Viimsi peninsula. After graduating in English language and literature at Tartu State University, she worked at the publishing house Eesti Raamat and then moved on to become an editor at the Estonian Centre of Folk Culture, where one of her tasks was to translate traditional runic ballads into English. She actively participated in the folk ensembles Leegajus and Hellero, and later described these “eye-opening and educational experiences as a living laboratory of development in the fields of ethnology and folkloristics, which also provided valuable insights into the organisational aspects of the folk culture field.” Kristin Kuutma was a founding member of the Estonian Folklore Society – the predecessor of the Estonian Folklore Council – established in 1988.
From 1994 to 2000, she worked at the Department of Folkloristics at the Institute of the Estonian Language. After earning a Master’s degree in Estonian and comparative folklore at the University of Tartu in 1998, she pursued further studies in the United States at the University of Washington, earning a second master’s degree in Scandinavian studies in 1999 and a doctoral degree in 2002. Her doctoral dissertation, supervised by John E. Toews and Thomas A. DuBois, explored the making of the Seto epic Peko and the ethnography of the Sámi. It formed the basis of her 2005 Estonian-language monograph and 2006 English-language book “Collaborative representations. Interpreting the Creation of a Sámi Ethnography and a Seto Epic”, published in the prestigious Folklore Fellows’ Communications series in Finland.
After completing her doctorate, Kristin Kuutma returned to Estonia, where she worked at the Estonian Literary Museum and the University of Tartu, where she became Professor of Cultural Studies in 2007. Kristin Kuutma was closely involved with the Estonian Doctoral School in Humanities and Arts, which was launched in 2009. As the organiser of the Tartu Winter School for doctoral students, she placed great importance on the development of new ideas and on fostering interdisciplinary and inter-university dialogue, shaping the landscape of contemporary humanities in Estonia. As a teacher, Kristin Kuutma was both compassionate and supportive, as well as demanding and consistent. With the keen eye of a cultural scholar, she observed the world from a thoughtful distance, stepping in when needed.
Through her theoretical courses and supervision, she influenced generations of researchers’ understanding of ethnography as cultural description and of the cultural scholar as both observer and creator of representations. Her research interests centred on the social applications of traditional culture and its transformation into heritage, the interplay between heritage and identity, and heritage policy.
Kristin Kuutma’s life’s work was the introduction and critical analysis of the concept of intangible cultural heritage, as well as in elucidating UNESCO’s role and opportunities in both academic and public contexts, in Estonia and internationally. From 2008 to 2022, she served as Chair of the Council of the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO, and later as a member of the Expert Committee and Head of the Executive Board when the Commission was merged with the Ministry of Culture.
In 2003, she received the annual award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for her scholarly analysis and report on the song and dance festivals of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the cultural space of Kihnu – a contribution that led to their inscription on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. From 2006 to 2010, Professor Kuutma represented Estonia on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. During this mandate, she was elected Vice-Chair of the Committee and, from 2009 to 2010, chaired the subcommittee that evaluated nominations to the Representative List. Her close collaboration with the UNESCO Secretariat continued in subsequent years, during which she was invited to advise South Africa and Eritrea on implementing the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Under her leadership, the University of Tartu established the UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2019.
Kristin Kuutma often emphasised that being a member of UNESCO carries the responsibility to think beyond an Estonian or European perspective – to view the world as a whole and engage with its shared challenges. Through her thoughtful and committed work as a UNESCO expert, she actively advanced this global vision.