Project “Giving a Voice” is part of a larger audiovisual documentary project, “Garden of Anna,” led by Latvian women theologians and filmmakers. It explores the roles and impacts of European Christian (Lutheran) missions in India through the life story of Latvian missionary Anna Irbe, who began her work in South India exactly 100 years ago.
The Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians has a successful long-term collaboration with film director Kristīne Briede, who for several years followed the lives of women theologians and pastors and created the documentary “Before the Light” (2023), which brought the topic of women’s situation in the Latvian Lutheran Church over the past 30 years to a wider public in Latvia and beyond. This time, Kristīne Briede and her team continued their research on topics linked to European missionary work in India.
Inspired by a vision for a better world, Anna Irbe first joined the Swedish mission in Tamil Nadu—a region profoundly shaped by centuries of European colonial presence. Early Lutheran missions, initiated by the German missionary Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau under Danish patronage, paved the way for Danish, German, and Swedish missions to spread throughout South India.
This research project led the authors to the phenomenon and complexities of Christian missions—once celebrated in Europe as agents of civilization and bearers of the “true faith,” but now critically reassessed in many parts of Europe through post-colonial studies.
The materials, stories, and testimonies gathered across Latvia, India, Sweden, and Germany have enriched knowledge about European missions in India, both from a historical perspective and in contemporary interpretations of the phenomenon and its influence. The project has also ignited a timely dialogue on faith, cultural memory, and the ongoing negotiation of identities in a globalized, post-colonial world.
We hope that Ökumenewerk der Nordkirche—the organization that helped finance this research work—as well as other stakeholders, will gain valuable insights into how diverse and, at the same time, complex the history of mission is, and what its future perspectives may be, as we reflect on mission work in today’s world from several contemporary standpoints.
Project implementation period: August 2025 to May 2026
Activities and Research
• In Germany (September 2025 and February 2026): Archive research and site visits; interviews with Leipzig Mission director Anette Kalettka; researchers Thomas Ruhland and Steven Reinhardt of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; and Thomas Grunewald, researcher and director of the library of the Francke Foundations, on the roots, aims, and legacy of missionary work.
• In Sweden (August 2025 and March 2026): Archive research (Uppsala, Svenska Kyrkan Archives, Nils Högman collections) and interviews with key figures involved in mission work, including former missionaries Birgitta Enwall, Elisabeth Arnason Mattizon, and Turid Apelgård, as well as bishop of Stockholm Andreas Holmberg, Eva-Maria Munck (Coordinator for International and Interfaith Affairs, Church of Sweden, Diocese of Stockholm) and theologians Jan Henningsson, Henrik Rosen, Anita Suneson, and David Vishal Yadala. Special thanks to Rev. Ieva Graufelde for practical support and for sharing research materials.
• In Latvia and India: Archive research; research into the history and work of the Anna Irbe Support Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia in India, which continues to operate a boys’ home in South India under Anna Irbe’s name; interviews and consultations with Pastor Gints Polis and former Latvian mission director in India Vija Klive. Visits to the boys’ home in South India; interviews with Gints Polis and local staff members—evangelist Peter, treasurer Kannan, and Pastor Nalaya-Jo; a visit to the Ziegenbalg House; and an interview with its director, Samuel Manuel. Special thanks to Dr. Kristīna Ēce for sharing her expertise on women missionaries.
Outputs
• A collection of audiovisual materials, interviews, photographs, copies of books, and video testimonies—giving voice to those who grew up within mission communities and offering rare perspectives on the lasting impact of mission work. Interviews with historians and theologians explore the history and influence of missionaries and mission movements.
• Public presentations:
- 23 March 2026 – Presentation of the project outcomes, particularly the India mission research, at a meeting of the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians.
- 22 May 2026 – Public event and debate at the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA), offering insights into the research and artistic project and the upcoming documentary film “The Garden of Anna,” which focuses on the legacy of European missions and the work of the prominent Latvian missionary Anna Irbe in India. The event will present research notes and a collection of audiovisual materials gathered in Latvia, Germany, Sweden, and India.
• Online publication through the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians (LLSTA) platform, www.sieviesuordinacija.lv, providing materials in Latvian and English on the history of European missions in India.
The project “Giving a Voice” was funded by Europareferat / Europe Desk, Ökumenewerk – Nordkirche weltbewegt, and co-funded by Vino Films production company through funding from the National Film Centre of Latvia and the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Project team:
Kristīne Briede, theologian and filmmaker
Līga Puriņa-Purīte, theologian and producer
Jānis Šēnbergs – D.O.P
Mārtiņš Māliņš – Editor
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Projekta apraksts latviski: