Signe’s birthday and opening of Time Machine 2.0

Come and join us in celebrating Signe’s birthday and the opening of Time Machine 2.0 at Helsinki City Museum!

This year, the City Museum will be celebrating the 150th birthday of photographer Signe Brander. Born on 15 April 1869, Brander took around one thousand photographs for the Helsinki City Board of Antiquities and the City Museum between 1907 and 1913. Brander’s photos form the basis of the City Museum’s photo collections.

In conjunction with Signe’s birthday, the museum will also introduce the new version 2.0 of the Time Machine virtual experience. In the Time Machine, Signe Brander’s photographs from a hundred years ago come to life through new technology. Time Machine 2.0 will whisk visitors away to early 20th-century Helsinki, where wooden houses are making way for a new city of stone castles. The new city is a mix of national romanticism, Art Nouveau and Nordic classicism – old traditions and new winds.

Signe’s birthday and the opening of Time Machine 2.0 will be celebrated with cake and activities for the whole family on Sunday 14 April, 12 noon–4pm. In addition to Signe’s photos, the programme will include music, lectures, children’s theatre and many other activities!

At the birthday event, visitors will also, for the first time, have the chance to participate in new walking tours called In the Footsteps of Signe Brander, which will be launched this spring. The walking tour starts from the museum’s information desk and ends at Kallio Church. The walking tour is free of charge but requires participants to sign up in advance. You can sign up for the tours via the links below or at the City Museum’s information desk on the day of the event. The walking tour includes a great deal of brisk walking and lasts for roughly 1.5 hours.

The event will also be attended by photographic studio Studio 1851, which will be taking silver gelatin portraits of the guests for a small fee. The photos are made by hand and recorded with an old wet plate camera. Over the course of the day, the studio will photograph portraits, pair portraits and family portraits. One photo session lasts for roughly 15 minutes, and you can take the photo with you immediately afterwards. You can make an appointment for a photoshoot on the day of the event by taking a number at the photo booth in the Lounge on the 4th floor. There is a limited number of appointments available.

Comic artist Timo Mäkelä’s original Neiti Brander comics, which star the photographer herself, will be on display for the duration of the event. Mäkelä will also be attending the event to talk about his comic.

Over the course of the day, children will be able to participate in photo orienteering that is based on Signe Brander’s photos.

Birthday cake will be available to the first 500 birthday guests.

 

Programme:
12 noon, congratulations to Signe and opening of the new 2.0 version of Time Machine, a music performance Ballad Signe Brander (by troubadour Olli Anikari from Stadin Slangi ry)

12.10 pm, a performance by a quintet from the Helsinki Fire Brigade Orchestra

12.30 pm, Eri kiva Helsinki – a children’s play by Theatre Cooperative ILMI Ö (limited number of seats)
The play is recommended for school-age children, but is also suitable for younger children.

1 pm, Signe Brander – Photographer of Helsinki (a lecture by researcher Aki Pohjankyrö)

1.30 pm, a performance by a quintet from the Helsinki Fire Brigade Orchestra

2 pm, Eri kiva Helsinki – a children’s play by Theatre Cooperative ILMI Ö (limited number of seats)
The play is recommended for school-age children, but is also suitable for younger children.

2 pm, comic artist Timo Mäkelä talks about his Neiti Brander comic

2.30 pm, Signe Brander – Photographer of Helsinki (a lecture by researcher Aki Pohjankyrö)

3 pm, In the Footsteps of Signe Brander – a guided walking tour in Finnish (25 people/tour). Sign up for the tour here.

4 pm, In the Footsteps of Signe Brander – a guided walking tour in Finnish (25 people/tour). Sign up for the tour here.

3.30 pm, In the Footsteps of Signe Brander – a guided walking tour in Helsinki slang in cooperation with Stadin Slangi ry (25 people/tour). Sign up for the tour here.