Helsinki City Museum again most popular museum in Finland
According to the statistics of the Finnish Heritage Agency, the Helsinki City Museum was once again the most popular museum in Finland in 2022. A total of 318,991 visits were made to the Helsinki City Museum and the four other museums that are part of it – Villa Hakasalmi, the Tram Museum, the Worker Housing Museum and the Burgher’s House Museum – in 2022. The largest number of visits, 240,495, was to the main building of the Helsinki City Museum located on the corner of Senate Square.
In 2022, the Helsinki City Museum presented three changing exhibitions: Dear Tallinn – Stories of our Neighbour, which looked at the relationship of Helsinki residents with the neighbouring city, Broken – A Shattered Mind, which dealt with the breakdown of mental health from the point of view of the experiencer, and Hoes – Voices in Sex Work, which presents voluntary sex work. Children’s Town, which was open all year for the first time in a while, also attracted families back to the museum. In addition, the Helsinki City Museum celebrated Helsinki Day, the closing of Youth Pride, Film Garden, Night of the Arts, the 300th anniversary of Sederholm House, the 10th anniversary of Children’s Town and the Christmas Market.
“We are very flattered that visitors found their way to the Helsinki City Museum in such great numbers after the challenging pandemic years. We want to offer thought-provoking experiences about Helsinki, as our recent exhibitions do. We are also happy that we were able to keep all the museums open as planned and organise public events despite the difficult beginning of the year in the field of culture,” says Minna Sarantola-Weiss, acting Museum Director.
In 2022, the museum of Villa Hakasalmi was visited 29,391 times. The exhibition Streets of Crime and Love, which opened in the spring, tells the story of the television series and films in Helsinki north of the Pitkänsilta bridge. Currently, Villa Hakasalmi has a gallery sale of the photographs on display, the proceeds of which will be donated to the Hurstinapu charity after the exhibition ends on 12 February.
The Tram Museum on Töölönkatu had a total of 37,584 visits in 2022. Reopened in March, the refurbished museum wanted to pay particular attention to children and families as visitors to the museum, without forgetting other tram enthusiasts. The museum’s new attraction is the Sisulaattori tram simulation, which takes you directly to Helsinki of the past through image and sound. The Tram Museum is also popular among groups visiting from daycare centres and schools.
Thank you to all visitors!
The Helsinki City Museum in summer 2022. Photo: Maarit Hohteri/Helsinki City Museum.
