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Sámi Museum Siida’s Museum Director Sari Valkonen Receives an Award at the Research Days for Adult Education

The Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida had a record of 63,935 visitors in its exhibitions and events in 2019. For the first time in its history, Siida had over 63,000 exhibition visitors. The personnel of Siida are pleased that an extension and renovation project and the renewal of Siida’s permanent exhibitions in near future will enable Siida to serve an increasing number of customers better and better.

The Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida will be renovated and extended in 2020–2022. As the owner of the Siida Building, Senate Properties has, through a decision by its Board of Directors, made an investment decision on the extension project on 18 December 2019. The Sámi Museum Foundation is the main tenant of the Siida Building, and the Foundation sublets parts of the house to the Nature Centre and Restaurant Sarrit.

The permanent exhibitions of the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida will be renewed. The Sámi Museum Foundation has received a 400,000 euro grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for renewing the cultural part of the exhibitions. In the project, the Museum will create an exhibition manuscript for the permanent exhibitions and the Open-Air Museum that will be based on atmospheres and the intepretations of Sámi artists. Through creating consciously atmospheres and a dramatic curve in the exhibitions, the information offered by the Museum will be better conveyed to the visitor.

The joint permanent exhibitions of the Sámi Museum and the Northern Lapland Nature Centre will be renewed. The Sámi Museum has received a grant of 300 000 euros from the Kone Foundation for a project on the modernisation of the cultural part of Siida’s basic exhibitions.

The Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida is heading for great changes: an extension, renovations, the renewal of exhibitions and transfers of collections. Before this, we will shake off the dust from Siida’s website. We have now improved the website www.siida.fi: with a fresh look, the website is now mobile optimised and available in five languages. Furthermore, tickets for our exhibitions can now be bought online.

Designer Harri Koskinen has been selected as the architectural designer for the new permanent exhibition at Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida. The existing exhibition will be renewed in conjunction with the expansion and renovation of Siida and will be completed in April 2022.

The future will bring us the renovation of the Siida Building, the construction of a restaurant wing and a renewal of our exhibitions. A new Collections Unit will be erected behind the Siida Building. We are right now in the planning phase of this project. The construction of the extension part will start in spring 2020. Until 31.3.2021, Siida will operate just as before.

In 2018, Siida in Inari, Finland, was again visited by a huge number of people. The Sámi Museum, the Northern Lapland Nature Centre and the restaurant Sarrit, all based in Siida, are pleased with the 2018 visitor figures! Siida’s 20th anniversary year with its interesting exhibitions and diverse events attracted the public to a great extent.

The Sámi Museum Siida’s first exhibition of this year, “The Powerful Voices of the Earth”, spotlights Sámi handicraft, or duodji. The crafts created by Jouni S. Laiti, a skilled artisan in the field of traditional Sámi handicraft, offers a view of Sámi crafts today. The exhibition provides the visitor with an opportunity to view modern Sámi handicraft both in a traditional form and as modern art.