The Museum Days start tomorrow in Jyväskylä – the theme is the Investigative Museum

The Museum Days are an important annual event in the sector, bringing together more than 200 museum sector professionals. This year, the Museum Days will be held in Jyväskylä which has a strong heritage in the museum sector’s own discipline of museology. The theme of the investigative museum will be explored in both domestic and international speeches and discussions held over two days.

"Museums are important societal operators. The research theme of the Museum Days highlights museums as a source of genuine and reliable information," says Petra Havu, CEO of the Finnish Museums Association.

Research is the foundation of museums and it permeates all museum work. The research-drivenness of museums, however, requires definition, strengthening and visualisation.

"The museum’s strong research foundation, combined with its work with people and communities, makes it a societally significant and influential operator. Scientific museological thinking helps in the development of museums," says Leena Paaskoski, Professor of Practice in Museology at the University of Jyväskylä.

The keynote speakers this year are Anne Krebs, Head of the Socio-Economic Studies and Research Division at the Louvre Museum in Paris, with a keynote speech on the socio-economic research of museums; Panu Halme, a university lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä, who discusses the state of the Planet in his keynote speech; and Pille Runnel, Research Director of the Estonian National Museum.

The Museum Days also take place at the museums in Jyväskylä. On Wednesday, the evening will be spent at the reception of the City of Jyväskylä at the Aalto2 museum centre.

"The content of the Museum Days and meeting colleagues is certainly inspiring from the perspective of developing museum activities. The Museum of Central Finland, the Jyväskylä Art Museum and the Craft Museum of Finland are pleased to welcome everyone to the active and diverse museum city and region," says Taina Rantala, the Museum Director and deputy Head of Museum Services at the Craft Museum of Finland. 

Thursday will be rounded off by the Museum Gala at the fair and event centre Paviljonki. Five museums have been selected for the finals of the Museum of the Year 2024 competition organised by the Finnish Museums Association and the Finnish National Committee of ICOM. The finalists are Chappe, the Luostarinmäki Museum Quarter, the Finnish Forest Museum Lusto, the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre SIIDA and Varkaus Museum Centre Konsti. In addition, the Publication of the Year award and the Museum Card special award will be granted at the Museum Gala. The museum awards will be granted for the tenth time this year.