Explore national collections
On the Finnish National Gallery's website you can explore tens of thousands of artworks online. The National Museum of Finland allows you to experience the Finnish history from prehistory and medieval castles and all the way to the turning points in the history of the independent Finland digitally through Open Museum service which is open wherever and whenever – 24/7.
Public art indoors and outdoors
HAM Helsinki Art Museum's sculpture bank contains information on a total of 500 sculptures located in Helsinki. In addition to basic information (the title of the work, the name of the artist, year of reveal, location), the bank includes background information on the works as well their location on the map. HAM also offers sculpture trails you can follow either online or outdoors.
Museum offerings
Selected works of art from the Ateneum Art Museum’s collections can also be toured with an audio guide. All of the museum’s audio guides are available online free of charge. You can tour the current Natalia Goncharova exhibition together with curator Timo Huusko. The museum has also teamed up with Apu magazine to present 11 famous Finnish artworks with which you don’t have to be alone. You can take the tour together with Kimmo Ohtonen on the Apu website.
You can visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma not only on the Finnish National Gallery website but also via the museum’s own online art collection, Kiasma Online Art. The Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA has also compiled on its website lots of creative things to do and interesting things to see that you can enjoy from home.
The Helsinki City Museum has published over 1400 new works online that could previously be seen only within the walls of the museum. The works include art, posters, postcards and blueprints. They can all be accessed on the Helsinki City Museum’s Finna website.
Theatre Museum
The Theatre Museum offers a range of virtual materials that can be enjoyed at home, including a 360º virtual tour that also works with VR headsets. The A B C of Theatre feature lets you try on costumes and experiment with different styles virtually. The museum’s website also presents several online exhibitions, including “Emotions and Elegance”, which describes in photos the theatre scene in Viipuri in the 1930s, and “Tragedy in Time”, which explores ancient Greek tragedies performed on stage in Finland. All the virtual materials can be found on the Teatterimuseo virtuaalisesti pages.
Video art
The Centre for Finnish Media Art (Av-Arkki) has compiled a list of Finnish video art that can be experienced from home.
Generation 2020 is a fascinating peek into the thoughts and art of a rising generation of artists. The exhibition presents the works of over 80 artists aged 15–23, selected from an open call that received over 1,600 work proposals. Amos Rex presents video artworks from the Generation 2020 exhibition online.
Augmented art
ARTAP by Helsinki Contemporary is an augmented reality based application which allows you to view realistic looking artworks on your wall in actual size as they would appear in real life.
Art documentaries
Stories of Finnish Art short films show familiar classics in a new light. The camera picks up details on the surface of the works that are not visible to the naked eye. You can watch the films free of charge in English at Ateneum's website.
Rut Bryk: Touch of a Butterfly is a warm portrayal of the artist completed in 2019, and it's now available for viewing on EMMA's website.
Culture
The City of Helsinki cultural centres Annantalo, Caisa, Kanneltalo, Malmitalo, Savoy Theatre, Stoa and Vuotalo are all continuing to offer art and culture during the crisis. They are also supporting artists by producing concerts and performances on digital channels. These services are offered to local residents on their social media channels and the Helsinki-kanava channel and will include live streams of concerts, a virtual art exhibition and art education for families with children.
In addition, Kanneltalo, Malmitalo and Vuotalo have decorated their windows to cheer up local residents, and on the Savoy Theatre’s social media channels, artists send their own greetings and provide cultural recommendations.