#freeHAM today

Start the weekend with a free visit to an art exhibition. The HAM Helsinki Art Museum at Tennispalatsi invites to their #freeHAM Friday.

Starting from 16:00 the doors open for everyone to just walk in and have a look at their current exhibitions. 

One of them is on Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins and much more.

Drop by and have a look.

Free museum entrance

Are you up for some art? Then come to the Sinebrychoff Museum of Art on Bulevardi just a few hundred meters away from the city center.

They have changing exhibitions on the ground floor and the basement. And apart from that their house museum on the first floor is open to anyone for free.

Have a look and enjoy!

Free entrance to Ateneum

Ateneum is one of Helsinki's most renowned and well-known museums. A must-see for everyone visiting or living in the city.

And now you have the chance to visit it for free. Until October 22 the entrance to the museum is free. Have a look at some of the most important art pieces of Ateneum's collection from Finnish and international masters.

Don't miss out on the opportunity! For more information and the opening times visit their website.

Kisama is back

After a long rennovation Helsinki's museum of contemporary art Kiasma has opened its doors again for visitors. 

The museum starts into the new season with a photography exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Admission fee for Kiasma is 12 € for adults and free of charge for under 18 year olds. And as before every first Friday of the month entry is admission free for everyone.

Six looks for Guggenheim

How should a potential Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki look like? This question drove teams from 77 countries that sent in 1715 design suggestions for the new look.

Now the six finalists have been chosen. Non of them comes from Finland though. The winner will be announced in June next year. The finalist's designs can be found online.

What do you think about the designs? Do you have your own favorite already?

Will Guggenheim come to Helsinki after all?

After the decision has been made against a Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki last year especially due to financing issues there might be hope again after all.

This week the Helsinki city council decided on reserving a spot at the South Harbor of the city right in the center. The Guggenheim Foundation now starts an international architecture competition to find a suitable concept for the spot.

Only after that a final decision on whether to build the museum will be made. Till then we can look forward to some interesting concepts from architects from all over the world for the South Harbor of Helsinki.

But what is your opinion? What do you think about a Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki? Leave a comment!

Happy birthday, Ateneum!

Tomorrow is Ateneum’s birthday. And this occasion of course doesn't go without a big celebration. The renowned museum in Finland that hosts the biggest collections of classical art in Finland starts its special program on Sunday at 11:00. During the whole day the museum is admission free.

Ateneum awaits the visitors with workshops, guided tours, lectures and discussions. For more information check out their website.

Have a nice weekend!

The home of Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela was one of the most famous Finnish painters and is well-known for his illustrations of the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

In 1961 his house and studio in Tarvaspää, Espoo was turned into a museum and opened for the public. Here you can find out more about the painter whose work was extremely important for the Finnish national identity. For an entrance fee of 8 € you can visit the museum that shows not only where Gallen-Kallela lived and worked but also has changing exhibitions. Most of Gallen-Kalela’s famous paintings aren’t on display here though but at Ateneum in the city center. If you take your smart phone with you, you can have a free audio tour through and around the museum.

Also the surrounding area is worth the visit. Stop for a short break at the small café next to the museum and go for a walk around the small island the museum is build on. Tarvaspää is perfect for a nice weekend walk.

A ride to the past of Helsinki

Amongst others the Korjaamo Culture Factory is also home to Helsinki’s Tram Museum.

On the first glance this tiny museum doesn’t seem to be impressive at all. Three old tram cars are lined up for the museum’s visitors. But the small screens next to each of the exhibits bring the trams back to life. Amongst lots of interesting information on those machines pictures of old Helsinki and the trams in action are shown. After clicking through the slides and reading about their history you will see the trams with different eyes, pay closer attention to small details and can easily imagine how it would feel traveling through the city on them.

The entrance to the museum is for free and it is open daily from 11 to 17:00.

Ihana Helsinki – Stadi welcomes the spring

Tomorrow the city festival Ihana Helsinki starts. Till Sunday the museums, shops, shopping centers and restaurants will be decorated and Helsinki will be taken over by flowers.

The city welcomes the spring and upcoming summer with this event that takes now place in the second year. Apart from beautifully decorated stores and streets a full program awaits visitors and customers.

Tomorrow the festival starts with a shopping night. Participating stores and shops are open till midnight.

For more information visit the officialwebsite. Enjoy Ihana Helsinki! 

Photography Into Art

If you are interested in photography as an art form in Finland you should pay a visit to the Finnish Museum of Photography. The exhibition is based on a huge private collection by Erja Hannula and Jorma Hinkka. Pictures over three decades tell the unique story of how Finnish photography established itself as a fully-fledged art form. A diverse mixture of photos shows the different periods and changes photography underwent.

 The museum also displays an overview of the work of the renowned Finnish photographer Nelli Palomäki. She became internationally known by her classical black and white portraits. Some of the audience favorites can be seen along with some new works.

Both exhibitions are still on display till 21.04.2013. Tickets for the museum cost 6€/4€ (under 18-year-olds free).

Making of Iron Sky

The science fiction movie Iron Sky made quite an impression last year. This Finnish-German-Australian coproduction was an international hit and shown at several film festivals.

The plot is pretty bizarre telling about Nazis that fled to the moon after World War 2 to come back to conquer the world again in 2018. 

If you’d like to know more about the making of the movie you should pay a visit to Helsinki Art Museum at Tennispalatsi. Till this Sunday (20^th) you can still see the exhibition where you find out more about the visual effects, costumes and sets of the movie.

Explore foreign cultures

You have probably been to Tennispalatsi at some point to watch a movie. But did you know that on the second floor of this building you can also find a pretty nice and interesting museum?

The Museum of Cultures is located here. They have changing exhibitions through the year. Trying to bring other cultures closer to the visitor they have exhibits from ancient times till today on display.

You should really pay this place a visit. The museum is not too big but still has a lot to offer. Just drop by during one of your shopping trips or before going to the movies next time. The entrance is free of charge.