The extension project of the Sámi Museum and the Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida has come to an end and the renovation project will begin. Siida’s old main exhibition will be dismantled, and space will be created for a new exhibition where culture and nature will be combined into a single entity.

 

The over 20-year-old main exhibition of Siida has been popular. The Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida would like to thank the exhibition team and the actors behind the previous Siida main exhibition for their fine work.

More than one million visitors have experienced the spirit and atmosphere of Sáminess, as well as Sámi and Northern Lapland nature in the praised exhibition. The exhibition will now be reformed from floor to ceiling. Content is always the most important matter in an exhibition, but outdated exhibition technology will also be completely reformed. In the future, it will be easier to maintain, update, and add new information to the exhibition.

 

Useful parts of the old exhibition will be preserved.  After conservation, the collection items are returned to collections or to a new exhibition. The fur and plumage of taxidermy animals are subjected to light maintenance. Some of the props will also continue in guidance use, in nature and museum education, in the outdoor museum, as well as in changing exhibitions.  After the dismantling of the old exhibition, the renovation of the exhibition hall begins. The surfaces are refurbished, and the ceiling gets a new paintwork, after which a new exhibition can be built.

 

Starting from May, the Siida building will be closed for the renovation period.  As of 1 June 2021, the customer service of the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida, Siida Shop, Metsähallitus’ customer service and tourist information will operate in temporary facilities in the area of Siida.  The Sámi culture can be explored at the outdoor museum, which will serve as an exhibition and visiting site during the renovation.

 

These lands are our children

 

Siida’s new exhibition is called “Enâmeh láá mii párnáh – These lands are our children”, according to the Inari Sámi poem written by Matti Morottaja from Inari. The name of the exhibition summarises the most important messages of nature and cultural topics.

 

The cultural contents of the exhibition reflect on how the past lives in us – each of us has a diverse heritage of different eras, which we utilise when adapting to changes around us. The nature perspective highlights climate history, specifically after the last Ice Age, and also speculates what will happen to the climate in the future. Nature topics are discussed through the conservation areas of Northern Lapland, their different habitat types, and the species living in them.

 

The principal architect of the new exhibition is Harri Koskinen from Friends of Industry Ltd. The manuscript for the cultural section was prepared by professor Veli-Pekka Lehtola. Outi Pieski serves as the artistic director of the cultural section. The manuscript of the nature section is by biologist Matti Mela.

 

The renewal of the cultural section of Siida’s main exhibition is financed by Kone Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation/Museum Vision, the Ministry of Education and Culture subsidy, and Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. Muittut, muitalusat – the story of the Sámi by the Sámi, an Interreg project related to the renewal of the exhibition, is also under way at the Sámi Museum. Metsähallitus received the funding for renewing the nature section of Siida’s permanent exhibition from the government’s amending budget.

 

 

Further information:
Museum Director Sari Valkonen, tel. +358 40 767 1052 or sari.valkonen(at)samimuseum.fi
Project Manager Eeva Kyllönen, tel. +358 40 5709382 or eeva.kyllonen(at)samimuseum.fi

National Park Superintendent Pirjo Seurujärvi, tel. +358 400 125 782 or pirjo.seurujarvi(at)metsa.fi
Project Manager Kirsi Ukkonen, tel. +358 400 479 986 or kirsi.ukkonen(at)metsa.fi

 

On the renovation of Siida on our website: https://siida.fi/en/siida-will-be-renewed/

Located in Inari, Siida houses the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre as well as Restaurant Sarrit. The Sámi Museum Foundation is responsible for operations at Sámi Museum. The Northern Lapland Nature Centre is part of Metsähallitus’ national network of nature centres.

The Siida building that opened in 1998 will be extended and renovated, with the new parts housing the Sámi Museum Collections Unit and the restaurant. The joint permanent exhibition of the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre will be renewed. We will serve customers during the whole renovation process. The extended and renovated Siida and the new exhibition will be opened in June 2022.

Sámi Museum and Nature Center Siida had 80 000 visitors in 2020. From these, 39 000 bought tickets to the exhibitions. In addition to exhibition visitors there are customers of Siida Shop, restaurant Sarrit, Inari tourist information and Metsähallitus customer service. The number of total visitors dropped 34 % and there were 39 % less exhibition visitors than the previous year.

The year 2020 had a great start at Siida. January 2020 broke records, but by the end of February the effects of Covid-19 started to show. On March 17th Siida, like all museums and nature centers in Finland, closed it’s doors for two and a half months. Summer was a success thanks to domestic travelling. Like previous years July was Siida’s busiest with over 8000 exhibition visitors. After the busy vacation months of summer, autumn and the last months of 2020 were quiet.

Sámi Museum and Nature Center Siida has always been an international destination. Year 2020 was clearly a year for domestic travel, as 66 % of exhibition visitors were domestic. On previous years on average 60 % of guests have been foreigners. The number of Museum Card visits grew almost double that of the previous year. In 2019 Siida registered 2 700 Museum Card visits, and in 2020 this number was 4 400.

Sámi Museum Siida’s Skolt Sámi Heritage House in Sevettijärvi had 990 guests in 2020. This year the Heritage House was open over a month less than previous years, in relation to this the number of visitors remained the same as before.

All in all Siida offered safe and high quality services despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the temporary exhibitions “Inari Sámi Handicraft of the Past and the Present”, “Changing winter”, “Everyday life of the North – how do the animals of the North live”, “Teno”, “Preserving Sámi Heritage”, “Albma olbmot – Real People”, ”Wild light”, “Sámi seremoniijat – Sámi ceremonies”, and “Karen Jomppanen: A Creative and Experimental Artisan” brought compelling content for visitors. Many of the guests from the past winter and summer also paid a visit to the open-air museum to get to know Sámi building heritage and livelihoods.

Siida buildings expansion project started in May 2020 as planned. The construction site hasn’t affected visiting Siida. In a little over six months the expansions for the new collections unit and restaurant wing have reached their full height and building on the inside is well on its way. The project is moving in schedule and the new facilities will be finished in spring 2021. In summer 2021 begins the renovation and renewal of Siida-building and it’s permanent exhibitions, which will be ready in spring 2022. During the renovation, exhibitions will be in the atmospheric open-air museum.

Sámi Museum and Nature Center Siida together with restaurant Sarrit want to thank all customers for the past year.

More information:

Head of Sales and Marketing Minna Väisänen, 0405816434, minna.vaisanen(at)samimuseum.fi
Sales and Marketing Assistant Taija Aikio, 0404847329, taija.aikio(at)samimuseum.fi

The Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida located in Inari village centre is undergoing big changes and renovation. The extension work is under way and the renovation of the current building will begin in spring 2021. The joint permanent exhibition of the Sámi Museum and the Nature Centre will also be renewed during the extension and renovation work.

The Siida building, which has been home to the Sámi Museum, Northern Lapland Nature Centre and Siida’s restaurant for more than 20 years, is currently being extended. Modern collection facilities with room also for the Sámi objects returning from the National Museum of Finland will be built for the Sámi Museum in connection with the current main building. New and more functional facilities for the restaurant will be built into a separate wing. The extensions will be completed in summer 2021.

The renovation of the current Siida building will begin once the extensions have been completed. In the renovation process, Siida’s lobby will be extended and the personnel will get new work facilities. The current permanent exhibition will be taken down and a new exhibition will be built in its place. Just like before, Siida’s new main exhibition will be a joint one of the Sámi Museum and the Nature Centre and combine the cultural and nature-related content into one exhibition.

Siida’s new exhibition will be named ”Enâmeh láá mii párnááh – These lands are our children” after the poem Enâmeh láá mii párnááh written in the Inari Sámi language by Matti Morottaja from Inari. The name of the exhibition summarises the most important messages of the cultural and nature topics. The knowledge of Sámi traditions has been carried in people’s memory from one generation to another through changes in nature and society. The landscape around us contains the marks left by millions of years. What kind of nature will we leave to future generations?

Museum Director Sari Valkonen from the Sámi Museum explains that the cultural content in Siida’s exhibition is based on reflections on how the past lives in us – a diverse legacy of different eras lives in all of us and helps us adapt to the changes around us. The new exhibition is the Sámi Museum’s story about the Sámi. The Sámi community will also be engaged closely in the exhibition work.

National Park Superintendent Pirjo Seurujärvi from Metsähallitus explains that, from the point of view of Nature Centre Siida, the new exhibition will highlight especially the history of climate since the last ice age and reflect on what will happen to climate in the future. Nature topics are discussed through the conservation areas of Northern Lapland, their different habitat types and the species living in them. We care for biodiversity and the cultural heritage, and our work will bear fruit across generations. The new exhibition will highlight this work in an excellent way, Seurujärvi continues.

The principal architect of the new exhibition is Harri Koskinen from Friends of Industry Ltd. The project managers of the new exhibition are Kirsi Ukkonen from Metsähallitus and Eeva Kyllönen from the Sámi Museum. Darja Heikkilä is the museum’s exhibition coordinator.

The renewal of the cultural section of Siida’s permanent exhibition is financed by Kone Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation/Museum Vision and Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. Muittut, muitalusat – the story of the Sámi by the Sámi, an Interreg project related to the renewal of the exhibition, is also under way at the Sámi Museum. Metsähallitus received the funding for renewing the nature section of Siida’s permanent exhibition from the supplementary budget.

Further information:

Museum Director Sari Valkonen, tel. +358 40 767 1052 or sari.valkonen@samimuseum.fi
National Park Superintendent Pirjo Seurujärvi, tel. +358 400 125 782 or pirjo.seurujarvi@metsa.fi
Project Manager Kirsi Ukkonen, tel. +358 400 479 986 or kirsi.ukkonen@metsa.fi

 

Located in Inari, Siida houses the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre as well as Restaurant Sarrit. The Sámi Museum Foundation is responsible for operations at Sámi Museum. Northern Lapland Nature Centre is part of Metsähallitus’ national network of nature centres.

The Siida building that opened in 1998 will be extended and renovated, with the new parts housing the Sámi Museum Collections Unit and the restaurant. The joint permanent exhibition of the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre will be renewed. We will serve customers during the whole renovation process. The extended and renovated Siida and the new exhibition will be opened in April 2022.

The Sámi Museum Siida is a communal museum. It has a plan of arranging community meetings in the areas of collection and exhibition work both in the Sámi Area and elsewhere in Finland. During the Covid-19 period, the meetings are arranged virtually, using remote access facilities. The first virtual meeting will be an Inari Sámi Language Night on Thursday, October 8th 2020, which focuses on items from the Finnish National Museum that were collected in the Inari region in 1902.

Communal activities are part of the Sámi Museum Siida’s core operations, including meetings, workshops, seminars and cultural nights. The community the Museum directs its activities at consists of the Sámi population, but also other people. The objective and purpose of the operations is to bring the Museum closer to the so-called ordinary people. Communal activities open the doors to the world of museums: a personal connection brings the Museum and its involvement in the sphere of shared cultural heritage closer to people’s everyday lives and history. As a memory organisation, the Museum works as the memory of the community.

The Sámi Museum has planned to have communal meetings in different parts of Finland. In addition to the Museum’s permanent staff, communal activities are carried out by Ulpu Mattus-Kumpunen, the community coordinator of the Muitát project funded by the Kone Foundation, communal interpreter Heini Wesslin and “the museum friends”, or contact persons, of different regions that will be appointed in the autumn.

In February 2020, a day on interactive learning was arranged in Siida together by the Museum, the Sámi Education Institute and the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. During the day, students and teachers of Sámi crafts and conservation learned about the special features of Sámi objects, artefact research, conservation and repatriation processes; there were also workshops in which these themes were looked at together with the staff of the Sámi Museum.

The Covid-19 period has prevented the Museum from carrying out its communal activities as widely as planned. Meetings are now mainly arranged as virtual meetings, with the aim of having the contact persons of the community meet the important people in their lives safely. Additional public meetings and trips are avoided.

In the meetings, the artefacts and the photographs of the Sámi Museum’s collections play a central role. Objects from the Sámi Museum’s collections and the items that will be repatriated by the Finnish National Museum are presented to the community, to be identified and looked at. The objectives of these activities include making the Sámi cultural environment visible. For the Sámi, nature is a library and archive that reflects our shared memory. Using photographs, we reminisce about the meaning of places from the point of view of livelihoods, dwelling sites and sources of inspiration for narratives and handicrafts. Some of the results of these communal activities will be presented in the new main exhibition of the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida.

Communal operations are part of the Sámi Museum’s project Muitát – From Repatriation to Revitalisation Using Sámi Museum Practices. In this project, the Sámi Museum studies actively what kind of communal ways of working are practical and give results. The best practices will be applied as new Sámi museum practices. The community aspect also plays a central role in other projects dealing with the renewal of the exhibition (the Museum Vision project and Muittut, muitalusat -Interreg project) run by the Sámi Museum presently.

The Sámi Museum Siida’s temporary exhibition Sámi seremoniijat – Sámi ceremonies follows, from the point of view of the Sámi crafting tradition, how Maarit Magga prepares as a mother and an artisan for her family’s ceremonies – confirmation and baptism. The story proceeds on several levels: those of crafting, or duodji, and Sámi values, view of life, customs and spirituality.

The exhibition is an artstic production created by Maarit Magga. It is connected with Magga’s artistic doctoral thesis on duodji, which she is writing for the Faculty of Art and Design of the University of Lapland. Magga works as a doctoral researcher of Sámi crafts and design at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences.

The photographs of the exhibition have been taken by Nilla-Máhtte Magga. The graphic design has been created by Tikkanen Workshop/Hannu Tikkanen. The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Central Fund), the Sámi Museum Siida and the Sámi University of Applied Sciences. The exhibition is open at the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida in Inari 8.10.2020–30.4.2021. The exhibition has been produced by the Sámi Museum Siida.

The Siida Building of the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre is being extended and will get new collections facilities and a new restaurant wing. Construction started with excavation work in May 2020. Last week a digger revealed bones in a heat pipe pit at the building site. The bones are probably those of prisoners of war from World War II.

Siida’s on-site construction was launched in May. Extensive foundation excavations are being done at both ends of the Siida Building. Last week, an excavator revealed bones in the ground when digging pits for heat pipes. The Sámi Museum Siida’s archaelogist identified the bones as human bones, and the excavation in the pit was stopped immediately. Bones of at least three people have been found on the site. We can presume that they were prisoners of war.

The police was informed of the find, and the Museum’s archaeologist got permission to excavate the bones. After excavation, the police fetched the remains of the dead. The bones are being sent to Helsinki, to be studied in greater detail and for taking DNA samples.

An ancient site and a prison camp

In the vicinity of Siida, there is an ancient settlement site called Saamen museo / Vuopaja (“Sámi Museum / Oxbow Lake”), which is protected by the Antiquities Act (295/1963). The ancient site was taken into consideration already when planning the extension parts of Siida, to keep it intact for future generations.

We know that there was also a German prison camp with Soviet prisoners building a bridge over the river there. Thus, there are pits and remains of dugouts from the Second World War in the neighbourhood of Siida, and some of them have been covered by the buildings of Siida and the surrounding roads. The employees of the construction company have been given instructions on what to do if prehistoric or historic objects or structures are found in the ground.

More information: Eija Ojanlatva, Archaeologist, tel. +358 40 1676 145, eija.ojanlatva(at)samimuseum.fi

After a break, we will open the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida for the public on Monday 1 June 2020 at 9 a.m. At the same time, we will launch the last year of the present Siida. We have started to extend the building, but visits to Siida will go on as usual throughout this year, until spring 2021.

A visit to Siida will turn out a pleasure, provided that we all – both visitors and staff – remember to come to Siida in good health and keep a proper distance to other people. Siida now has hand disinfection points in several places in the house, and we clean the building according to the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

Siida will have exceptional opening hours in the 2020 summer and autumn season. From 1 June to 30 September, we will be open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thus, we will close an hour earlier in the evening than we have earlier told. From the beginning of October, we will keep our normal winter opening hours and serve visitors Tue–Sun from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

During the opening hours, you can visit our exhibitions and Open-Air Museum. You can shop at Siida Shop, and the Customer Service of the Nature Centre will provide you with licences, advice and tourist information. Our Open-Air Museum will open as soon as the long winter is over and the snow is gone.

Temporary exhibitions will be opened one at a time. Until the end of September, you can visit our “Preserving Sámi Heritage”, which displays conserved items from the Sámi Museum’s collections, and the photography exhibition “Teno” by Pertti Turunen, a nature photographer from Ivalo. Right after Midsummer, we will open Pekka Sammallahti’s exhibition “Albma olbmot – Real People” of black-and-white portraits. This exhibition will be available in Siida for the public until the spring of 2021.

Siida Shop is getting ready to offer delivery sales, and you will soon be able to order selected products home by mail. We will tell about the progress of this reform on Siida Shop’s Instagram and Siida’s Facebook page.

At Restaurant Sarrit, visitors can refresh themselves on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the restaurant will also offer take-away food. The number of customer seats has been reduced by fifty per cent, and the terrace will open as soon as the weather permits.

The Skolt Sámi Heritage House in Sevettijärvi, run by the Sámi Museum Siida, will be open this summer from 1 July to 29 August, Tue–Sat from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Heritage House is free for visitors. In Sevettijärvi, our exhibitions and open-air premises focus on the history of the Skolt Sámi. At the shop of the Heritage House, you will find, for example, local handicrafts.

You are most welcome to visit Siida!

 

Come to Siida only if you have no coronavirus symptoms.
Keep at least a 1–2 metre distance to other visitors and the staff.
Use hand sanitiser when you enter Siida.
You can find hand-washing facilities in our customer toilets.
To protect other people, cover you nose and mouth with tissue or your sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
We clean according to the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
Thank you for following safety rules on our premises!

The renovation and extension project of the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida progresses as planned. The Senate Properties, which is the developer of the project, and Rekonen Ltd, which has been chosen the main entrepreneur of the extension, signed a contract on the construction on 11 May 2020. Construction will start immediately.

The Siida Building – inaugurated in 1998 – is renovated to meet the needs of an increased number of operations and higher visitor numbers. In the project, Siida will get museum and nature centre premises that fulfil modern demands both technically and operationally. The extension parts will cover approximately 1400 m², increasing Siida’s area by about 50 per cent.

The renovation and extension project will be carried out in two phases. The fresh competitive tendering for the contract concerned the first phase of the project, in which the Sámi Museum gets new collection facilities and a restaurant wing. With an extension of the Collections Unit, the new facilities will enable the Museum to continue as a national museum responsible for its special field. After the project, the Museum will receive a repatriation of the Sámi Collection of the Finnish National Museum (more than 2000 artefacts). A repatriation of this size is noteworthy even internationally. During the extension phase, Siida will continue serving its customers as usually.

The second phase of the construction project, starting in June 2021, will entail renovating Siida’s working facilities and repairing and carrying out construction, HVAC and electrotechnical repair and renovation measures. The main focus will be on securing good indoor conditions, on lighting, on acoustics and security solutions and on energy efficiency.

The Sámi Museum and Nature Centre and the restaurant will serve customers throughout the project, using the new wings as their temporary facilities. Siida with its new facilities and permanent exhibitions will be opened on 1 April 2022.

The architectural design of Siida’s extension has been entrusted to Architects Soini & Horto Ltd from Helsinki, with Senate Properties as the developer. LVI-Vanhatalo Oy will be the HVAC entrepreneur and Keskus-Veljet Oy the electrical entrepreneur of the project.

The Senate Properties’ Board of Directors decided to invest in the project in December 2019. The Sámi Museum Foundation is the main tenant of the Siida Building, and it sublets parts of the house to the Northern Lapland Nature Centre of Metsähallitus and to Restaurant Sarrit.

Further information:
Senate Properties: Miikka Teppo, Construction Manager, miikka.teppo@senaatti.fi tel. +358 40 180 0929

 

Senate Properties is the work environment partner and premises specialist of the Finnish government. We are a pioneer of new ways of working and work environments. Our centralised solutions help our customers improve their efficiency and save on premises costs. The skilled professionals of Senate Properties manage the government’s property assets and their efficient use. Senate Properties is also responsible for the sale and development of the properties no longer used by the government. Responsibility is at the core of all Senate Properties’ activities. We make room for success. www.senaatti.fi

Updated 18.2.2021: (2600 artefacts) –> (more than 2000 artefacts)

The Steering Committee Sápmi of the Interreg Nord Programme has granted support for a project called “Muittut, muitalusat – The Story of the Sámi by the Sámi”. The project is a collaboration of three Sámi museums – the Sámi Museum Siida from Inari, Finland (the leader and administrator), the Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum Ájtte from Jokkmokk, and the South Sámi Museum and Cultural Centre Sáemien Sijte from Snåsa, Norway – as well as the University of Lapland and the Luleå University of Technology. The project period is 1.1.2020 – 30.9.2022, and the budget is approximately 2 million euros.

The partner museums hold a central position in the presentation and display of Sámi culture. The project will create a new Sámi museum language, through which Sámi culture will be presented in museums and exhibitions from the point of view of the Sámi themselves. One of the objectives of the project is to strengthen Sámi identity. Museums are important destinations in their areas, and the project will be of economic importance to the entire Nordic region. The objective is to guarantee that economic life, especially tourism, can benefit from the results when developing services and products.

In the project, a new Sámi exhibition language will be developed through three exhibition pilots. The pilots will have as their themes the Drum, the Sámi costume Gákti/Gapta/Gáppte, and the Loss of language. These three topics will be developed in terms of both content and display technique in cooperation with the project partners and the Sámi community in a series of workshops. The pilots will become a permanent part of the exhibitions of Sáemien Sijte, the Sámi Museum Siida and Ájtte.

A joint exhibition language will provide the participating Sámi museums with a strong foundation for future development work and cooperation across the borders. As a result of the project, Sámi culture and heritage will grow more vital. The results of the project will be shared internationally for the use of Sámi, museum stakeholders and museum visitors.

Eeva-Kristiina Harlin (M.A.) has started as the project manager of the project The Muittut, muitalusat – The Story of the Sámi by Sámi at the end of February.

 

More information about the project:

Sámi Museum Siida: Sari Valkonen, Museum Director  tel. +358 40 767 1052, sari.valkonen@samimuseum.fi
Ájtte: Elisabeth Pirak-Kuoljok, Museum Director tel. +46 97117007, elisabeth.pirak-kuoljok@ajtte.com
Sáemien Sijte: Birgitta Fossum, Museum Director tel. +47 940 17 020, birgitta.fossum@saemiensijte.no

Photo: A Sámi cradle, gietkka for a doll from 1920´s. Ahola collections/Sámi Museum Siida.