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Credit: Visit Finland
Culture
Art, design and architecture from Finland are making waves internationally. Famous architect Alvar Aalto, alongside new trailblazers from fashion to furniture design, are putting Finland on the map. However, the Finnish culture scene is still a hidden gem. Finland has over 300 museums, some of the most interesting new architecture in Northern Europe, numerous festivals and the Finnish film & TV industry are reaching international audiences.
Let us know, what cultural aspects you would like include in your trip to Finland!
Architecture
The style of Finnish architecture could be called simple, pragmatic and independent. Finnish architecture has a great tradition. Names such as Alvar Aalto, Eero Saarinen or Viljo Revell are known around the world.
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Building with wood is deeply rooted in Finnish culture. Many historical wooden houses have been preserved in the old wooden towns particularly along the coast of Finland.
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Examples of contemporary wood architecture include St. Henry’s Ecumenical Art Chapel, Chapel of Silence, Lusto Finnish Forest Museum and Serlachius Art Museum.​
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The start of the 20th century brought National Romanticism to Finland. The Finnish Art Nouveau was strongly inspired by the national epic "Kalevala". One of the the most important examples of national romanticism is Helsinki's main railway station finished in 1919 by architect Eliel Saarinen.
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Starting in the 1930s, functionalism developed into a prevailing style. As a pioneer of the new Nordic design, Alvar Aalto transformed the lines of Finland's lake and forest landscape into an architecture of curves, waves and shapes. His functionalism developed into an "organic modernism" that still shapes Finnish architecture today.
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If you are in Helsinki, pay a visit to the Museum of Finnish Architecture.
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Credit: Jussi Tiainen
Art
Finnish art started to form its individual characteristics in the 19th century, when romantic nationalism began to rise in the country that was still part of Russia. Painters like Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen travelled the country depicting the natural beauty of Finnish landscape. Their contemporary Helene Schjerfbeck, a modernist painter, is one of Finland’s best-loved artists. The Finnish national epic, Kalevala, inspired the paintings of Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
The Sibelius Monument by sculptor Eila Hiltunen is one of Helsinki's most popular statues.
If you like 'weird & wonderful', a visit to Parikkala Sculpture Park is a must.
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Of Finland’s more than 1,000 museums, about 200 are dedicated to the arts. The national art museum is the Finnish National Gallery, composed of the Ateneum Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, and the Central Art Archives.
There are also a number of regional art museums. We can add visits into your tour. A visit to Sara Hilden Art Museum in Tampere or to Serlachius Art Museum Gösta in Mänttä will not disappoint.
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Credit: Ateneum
Finland is home to unique and vibrant handicraft traditions. Our artisans produce beautifully carved knives, handwoven 'ryijy' and floor rugs, stylish wooden bowls & decorative items, woollen knits and handmade jewellery among other things.
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Fiskars Artisan Village is definitely worth a visit. In Turku
you can visit the charming Luostarinmäki handicrafts museum. Rauma, on the west coast, features Old Rauma - one of the five UNESCO World Heritage sights in Finland. Here the craft of bobbin lace making still flourishes, and is celebrated annually with the Rauma Lace Festival.
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In Jyväskylä you find the Craft Museum of Finland, a special museum covering all techniques of handicraft, from house building to lace making and from forging to the design of ornaments. The National Costume Centre of Finland is also part of the museum.
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We can also include hands-on craft workshops in your holiday.
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Credit: Visit Finland/Juho Kuva
Modernism reached Finland in 1930's and this style became evident particularly in the glassworks of Iittala, Karhula and Riihimaki and later in the ceramics of Arabia.
By the end of the 1930s, Finland’s international reputation for great design was established partly due to Alvar Aalto's and his wife's Aino's innovative furniture designs and new forms of glassware. Many iconic works followed from design legends like Kaj Franck, Timo Sarpaneva, and Tapio Wirkkala.
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in 1951 Armi Ratia established Marimekko bringing striped, checked, and floral prints in bold colours to the world.
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To learn more about Finnish design, pay a visit to the Designmuseo in the heart of the Helsinki Design District.
At the Iittala & Arabia Design Centre you can explore the history of Finnish ceramic art and glass design and meet artists in their studios.
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Credit: Getty Images
The Finnish film industry has a long history dating back to before 1917, the year in which Finland declared independence from Russia. Because of Aki Kaurismäki and his work, for example, "The Match Factory Girl" (Finnish: Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö) from 1990, Finnish film productions gained global attention.
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Founded by Aki and Mika Kaurismäki and Peter von Bagh, the Midnight Sun Festival brings leading international and Finnish directors to Lapland every year in June.
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One of the most anticipated Finnish films is Sisu, an action thriller directed by Jalmari Helander. In September 2022, Sisu premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and a month later won four awards at the prestigious Sitges International Film Festival in Spain.
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Finnish TV-series are also reaching international audiences. If you like crime series, in Australia you can watch Finnish crime series on Netflix or SBS on-demand. Look for titles like Bordertown, Freezing Embrace, Helsinki Crimes or
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Credit: WikiPedia
The Kalevala, is a book and epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore in the 19th century. It is considered the national epic of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. It is said that J.R.R. Tolkien was also inspired by the Finnish storytelling when he was writing the Lord of the Rings.
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Tove Jansson (1914–2001) is best known as the creator of the Moomins, the fun and philosophical characters who inhabit nine novels and numerous picture books, comic strips and animated films. Tove wrote and illustrated the Moomin books, which now appear in more than 50 languages.
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Follow this link to books by some contemporary Finnish authors.
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Credit: moomin.com
Finlandia is the most loved piece of classical music in Finland. It was composed by Jean Sibelius in 1899. Finlandia became a symbol of Finnish nationalism when Finland was still under the Russian rule. Internationally renown Finnish conductors include Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Osmo Vänskä.
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In 1911 the Finnish National Opera Company was created and the following year the world famous Savonlinna Opera Festival was launched.
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In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in Finnish folk music which is typically very lyrical and often features the use of the kantele, a traditional Finnish musical instrument. One of the most famous Finnish folk music ensembles is Värttinä.
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There is a large and passionate metal community in Finland and Finnish metal bands are some of the most successful and well-known in the world. Check out Children of Bodom or Nightwish for metal music and rock bands like The Rasmus or HIM. These bands are known for their unique style and sound.
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During summer months particularly there are several music festivals taking place all around the country.
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Credit: Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival
The Sámi
The Sámi are the only indigenous people within the European Union. 'Sápmi' covers the region the Sámi inhabit within four countries, and it consists of northern parts of Finland, almost half of Sweden and Norway as well as parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.
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Skábmagovat (Reflections of the Endless Night) – is the world’s northernmost indigenous peoples’ film festival. It takes place in the village of Inari, Finland, 320 km north of the Arctic Circle.
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Ijahis idja is a festival celebrating the music of indigenous peoples and has been held in Inari since 2004. The event is the only music festival held in Finland that concentrates on Sámi music.
The indigenous Sámi people's art & craft items are particularly beautiful and are usually made of antlers, bones, wood, birch bark, pewter, silver or leather. Visitors are also charmed by the traditional cups carved from birch wood, known as 'kuksa'. Genuine handicrafts from Lapland can be identified by the Duodji label which shows that the item has been produced in a regional craft workshop.
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Credit: Visit Finland/Mikko Leinonen