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.

 

 
 

 

The Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida is closed for the public for the time being at least until 13.5.2020 to slow down the spread of the coronavirus epidemy and to protect risk groups. Restaurant Sarrit will also be closed for the time being at least until 31.5.2020.

We are following the advice of the Council of State. We will follow the development of the situation and keep Siida closed for a longer period if necessary.

We will be updating the situation on our website at www.siida.fi and on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

The personnel of the Sámi Museum Siida have switched to remote working and will answer enquiries by e-mail and telephone. The contact information for the Museum is available on our website at www.siida.fi/en/the-sami-museum/contact-information-of-the-sami-museum/.

The Nature Centre Siida will provide its information services by telephone and e-mail. The Tourist Information of the municipality of Inari is also available by telephone and e-mail. Customers can contact the Nature Centre by using the normal telephone numbers and e-mail addresses listed in the Contact Information at www.siida.fi/en/nature-centre/contact-information-of-nature-centre/. Please note the exceptional opening hours of the Nature Centre’s customer service (https://siida.fi/en/nature-centre/nature-centre-siidas-customer-service/).

Further information:
Sari Valkonen, Museum Director, sari.valkonen@samimuseum.fi, tel. +358 40 767 1052
National Park Superintendent Pirjo Seurujärvi, pirjo.seurujarvi@metsa.fi, tel. +358 400 125 782

Updated 31.3.2020: until 13.4.2020 –> until 13.5.2020
Updated 31.3.2020: Restaurant Sarrit will also be closed. –> Restaurant Sarrit will also be closed for the time being at least until 31.5.2020.
Updated 27.4.2020: Siida will be closed –> Siida is closed
Updated 5.5.2020: for the time being at least until 13.5.2020 –> until 31.5.2020
Updated 5.5.2020: for the time being at least until 31.5.2020. –> until 31.5.2020.

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

At the Research Days for Adult Education in February 2020, the Finnish Society for Research on Adult Education awarded persons who have distinguished themselves in the field of adult education.

A student scholarship was granted to to Sámi Museum Siida’s Museum Director Sari Valkonen (who has studied adult education as her main subject).

The Society awarded Valkonen for her commendable work on adult education and life-long engagement in socially and culturally important and responsible work especially in Lapland.

https://www.aikuiskasvatuksentutkimusseura.fi/?x103997=1619593

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 public were eager to use Siida’s services last year. The total number of visits for 2019 was 121,000, which is the second highest in Siida ever. This visitor number includes, in addition to the the exhibition and event visitors, also the customers of Siida Shop, Metsähallitus’s Service Point, the Tourist Information and Restaurant Sarrit.

Of all those visiting Siida, approximately 50 per cent – 64,000 – were exhibition and event customers, which means that Siida’s exhibitions have never been visited by a higher number of guests during the 21-year-long history of the house. The figure has increased from the previous year by a whopping 8%.

Traditionally, the flow of visitors to Siida’s exhibitions from June to August has clearly surpassed that of the winter months. The 2019 increase in the exhibition visitor figures was especially prominent during the winter months. The numbers increased the most in December, with altogether 25% compared to 2018. The exhibition visitor figure of January grew by 16% compared to 2018.

Of Siida’s exhibition visitors, 39% were domestic and 61% foreigners in 2019. The proportion of international exhibition visitors has increased every year. For example in 2014, foreign visitors accounted for 55%. The number of domestic exhibition visitors to Siida has also increased, by 4.7% compared to 2018.

Siida is an extremely international meeting place. In 2019, our visitors came from altogether 87 countries. Germans were the biggest group of foreigners (8.4% of all exhibition visitors) with the French right after them (7.7%). These two nationalities have topped Siida’s exhibition visitor statistics for years. The other top countries on the list were China and Hongkong (4.7%), Italy (4.6%), the USA (4.5%) and the Netherlands (4%).

The new trend of tourism could also be noticed in Siida. Instead of group trips, travellers follow their individual travel plans. Last year, individual foreign adults were the largest customer group buying tickets to Siida, with foreign adults travelling in groups as the second largest visitor group.

The Museum Pass – extremely popular in Finland – also brought an increasing number of visitors to Siida. The number of visitors entering Siida with a Museum Pass in 2019 was 2,707, which means an increase of 38% compared to 2018.

Siida’s basic exhibitions that highlight Sámi culture and the natural conditions of the North contain a great deal of information that visitors find interesting. In 2019, the most popular temporary exhibitions were the exhibitions “Inari Sámi Handicraft of the Past and the Present” and “Changing Winter”. Siida’s high visitor figures are also based on our diverse services: the visitor will find information, unforgettable experiences, advice, presents and restaurant services under the same roof.

Furthermore, 2,585 visitors were registered at the Skolt Sámi Heritage House – the regional unit of the Sámi Museum Siida – in Sevettijärvi. The Skolt Sámi Heritage House is open from June to September, and its visitor numbers increased by a good 400 visitors from the year 2018. The Skolt Sámi Heritage House is mostly visited by domestic visitors (82%). July and September are the peak visitor months at the Heritage House.

Siida will launch its extension and development project in earnest in the spring of 2020. The extension project will be realised in stages. During the initial phase – starting on 1 May 2020 – a collection unit and a restaurant wing will be built. After they have been completed, the Siida Building will be closed for a year in April 2021 for the renovation phase. The Sámi Museum and Nature Centre and the restaurant will continue serving customers throughout the renovation stage, using the new wings as their facilities. During the period of change, Siida will use the legendary Open-Air Museum as its exhibition venue. Siida with its new facilities and permanent exhibitions will be opened on 1 April 2022.

More information:
Visitors: Head of Sales and marketing Minna Väisänen, +358 40 58164 34, minna.vaisanen(at)samimuseum.fi
Siida renewal: Museum Director Sari Valkonen, +358 40 767 1052, sari.valkonen(at)samimuseum.fi