Releases

The Sámi Museum Siida in Finland, the Nordiska museet in Sweden, and the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu in Finland are launching a collaboration focused on Sámi cultural heritage. The project will research the background information of old Sámi objects collected from the area of Finland in collaboration with Sámi communities. The collaboration is part of the Sámi Museum Siida’s Ellos min árbi – Long Live Our Cultural Heritage project (2025–2028), which is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Sámi Museum’s Cultural Environment Services are closed 29.6.–31.7.2026 during which the museum doesn’t give statements. Have a good summer!

Contemporary Sámi art is experiencing a renaissance and attracting great international interest. I am very pleased that Kiasma accepted our proposal for collaboration and hosting a comprehensive jointexhibition of Sámi contemporary art.

Jointly presented by Kiasma and the Sámi Museum Siida, We Who Remain brings together contemporary artworks by Sámi artists and works engaging with Sámi life across Sápmi, spanning Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The exhibition opens at Kiasma on March 27, 2026, with selected works on view at Siida in Inari beginning in October.

In 2025, a total of 83,506 exhibition and event visitors visited the Sámi Museum Siida, marking the highest annual visitor number in the museum’s history. Compared to the previous record year, visitor numbers increased by 1.5 percent, indicating that attendance has stabilized at a new, higher level than before.

Pielpajärvi Church is one of the oldest built heritage sites in northern Finland and an internationally significant monument of wooden architecture. On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, the Sámi Museum Siida will publish the first extensive, trilingual research publication dedicated to Pielpajärvi Church. The book is edited by Professor Panu Savolainen, Chair of Architectural History at Aalto University, and authored by several experts in architectural history, cultural heritage studies and art history. The publication brings together the latest research findings and previously unpublished visual material.

Opening at Kiasma on 27 March 2026, We Who Remain is a major joint exhibition organised by the Sámi Museum Siida and Kiasma. It presents contemporary art by and about the Sámi community across the Sápmi territories of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. A curated selection will be shown at Siida in Inari starting from October 2026.

September 10 and 12, 2025, will be historic days for Sámi museums and Sámi culture field: A decorative antler spoon from the Southern Sámi region will be returned from the Sámi Museum Siida in Inari, Finland, to Saemien Sijte – the Southern Sámi museum and cultural center in Snåsa, Norway. This is the first return between two Sámi museums.

Sámi Museum Siida is carrying out a community-based project to explore how best to make returned Sámi objects part of living Sámi culture. The grant continues the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s long-standing support for the Sámi culture and languages.

The University of Lapland, the Sámi Education Institute and Sámi museum Siida have signed a new cooperation agreement that aims to deepen their long-lasting partnership, as well as strengthen the education, research and development of the Sámi region.