Good news on cultural front! Siida has been selected as the European Museum of the year!
The Sámi Museum Siida is the only museum in Finland to actively collect Sámi cultural heritage by preserving, safeguarding, and presenting Sámi tangible and intangible cultural heritage and conducting collections-based research. The museum, founded in 1959 and housed in its own building since 1998, was fully refurbished and reopened in 2022 to include renovated public spaces and a nature centre.
50 museums from 24 Council of Europe member states were nominated and all were visited by the jury members, closely examining each candidate. The award committee praised the recently renewed museum for its creativity, ethical conservation practices and fostering of cultural dialogue.
The new museum has been created for, by, and with the Sami communities as a safe place to collect Sámi heritage and to bring it front and centre in a contemporary cultural dialogue.
You can read about Sami people in our blog posts in the Finnish Community blog Sami people in Finland or Norwegian Community Blog, Sàmi National Day.
Minna, OLS Community Manager – Finnish