Teach and learn

Mood – Helsinki 1939-1945 (available 8.10.2019–1.3.2020)

Mood exhibition will open a completely new perspective on wartime Helsinki. Between 1939 and 1945, the appearance and spirit of the city changed drastically. Visual arts offered means of processing both normal life and the changes brought on by the war. The exhibition will open in two museums at the same time. The exhibition in Tennis Palace will present visual art, photographs and objects arranged thematically according to factors that affected the mood of the country during the war. The show in Helsinki City Museum’s Hakasalmi Villa will focus on the evacuation of people and artworks. The exhibition is curated by writer Anna Kortelainen.

HAM’s guided tour includes discussion about wartime moods and feelings as well as examinations of how people’s moods have been depicted in art and how the cityscape and the lives of artists were impacted by the war. The tour includes complementary learning material related to the exhibition.

Recommended age: daycare, 1st–9th grade, upper secondary level

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Helene Schjerfbeck: Kahvilassa, 1940

Jaakko Niemelä – Nostalgia (available 4.10.2019–1.3.2020)

Artist Jaakko Niemelä (b. 1959) has prepared a research project on memories of sea captain Erkki Niemelä. The artist has travelled in his father’s footsteps on ocean-going ships and explored the places he visited, documenting his journeys by drawing, writing, taking photographs and video. The installation will include two large projected animations and a soundscape.

Recommended age: 3rd–9th grade, upper secondary level

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Jaakko Niemelä: Nostalghia, 2017

Genderfuck 1900 (available 1.11.2019– 12.4.2020)

Genderfuck 1900 will update the recent heated discourse on gender, male and female roles and their construction. HAM offers unexpected perspectives on the discussion by turning attention towards forgotten history. The show presents a bewildering assortment of visual material from the past one hundred years, including postcards, studio portraits and snapshots. The pictures toy with gender roles and challenge assumptions related to masculinity and femininity.
The show is curated by Harri Kalha, whose materials have been complemented with contemporary artworks from the HAM collection.

The guided tour includes a look into the history of the depiction of gender and discussion on the means by which art can take part in the current discussion surrounding the topic.

Recommended age: 3rd–9th grade, upper secondary level

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Ellen Thesleff - I Paint Like a God (available 26.4.2019–26.1.2020)

The guided tour showcases the work of Ellen Thesleff (1869–1954). Thesleff was a radical artist who followed her own path and lived for her work. One of the first symbolists and expressionists in Finnish art, Thesleff was a pioneer in an age when female artists struggled to get recognition. In addition to Thesleff’s art, the exhibition also highlights her life through photographs and archive materials. The show is curated by art historian Hanna-Reetta Schreck.

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Ellen Thesleff: Thyra Elisabeth, 1892 / Photo: Hanna Kukorelli

Paweł Althamer: I (AM) (available 29.3–8.9.2019)

The guided tour introduces visitors to the work of Polish artist Paweł Althamer. The exhibition presents his wide-ranging and often surprising output from more than three decades. The features artworks include sculptures, community art documentation, miniature worlds, and a new installation.

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Tove Jansson

Tove Jansson’s party-themed frescoes paint a whole new picture of the beloved artist. Suitable for all ages.

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Image: Tove Jansson © Per Olov Jansson

Language immersion tour, Tove Jansson

The tour is an immersion tour on which the guide will talk about Tove Jansson’s work in Swedish. The guide will speak only Swedish but does understand questions in Finnish. Come and practise your Swedish! Suitable for all ages.

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Image: Helsinki City Hall, restaurant Kaupunginkellari. Tove Jansson and Niilo Suihko painting the fresco Party in the Countryside. © Helsinki City Museum / Foto re Roos

Understanding Art: Movements in Painting (available 6.9.2018 onwards)

This tour explores the exhibition of works from the Bäcksbacka Collection, with special reference to early 20th century movements in Finnish art. The tour provides ways to identify genres and offers perspectives on interpretation. The focus is on expressionist and abstract art.

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Image: Sam Vanni, Sommitelma (Puna-sininen ristiriita), 1960 / Photo: Hanna Kukorelli

HAM highlights

Do you want to see only the best that HAM has to offer? This tour offers a comprehensive look at HAM: the architecture and history of Tennis Palace, the main themes of the exhibitions and the most notable works of art on display.

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Image: Tuula Lehtinen: You don’t know how beautiful you are, 2015 © HAM / Maija Toivanen

Paint moods, feelings and character

Mood exhibition will open a completely new perspective on wartime Helsinki. Between 1939 and 1945, the appearance and spirit of the city changed drastically. Visual arts offered means of processing both normal life and the changes brought on by the war. This art workshop takes a look at the portraits on display in the Mood exhibition and examines the creation of mood and feeling through the painting of self-portraits.

• Age recommendation: daycare, 1st–9th grade, upper secondary level
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Fee: 35 euro
• The workshop can be integrated with the following subjects in the national school curriculum: Visual arts, history, social studies.
• Key competence area: L1 Thinking and learning to learn; L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression; L4 Multiliteracy

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Helene Schjerfbeck: Kahvilassa, 1940

Building a Miniature World – workshop (available: 2.4.–6.9.2019)

Polish artist Paweł Althamer’s exhibition showcases his wide-ranging and often surprising output from more than three decades. The show includes sculptures, installations, community art documentation and miniature worlds.

We will view Althamer’s playful works and afterwards build a miniature world of our own in the workshop space.

• Age recommendation: daycare children, 1st–9th graders, high school and vocation school students
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Fee: 35 euro
• The workshop can be integrated with the following subjects in the national school curriculum: Art
• Key competence area: Cultural competence, interaction and expression (L2)

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Photo: Paweł Althamer: NOMO, 2009 / © Jens Ziehe

Prints of Urban Views – workshop (available: 2.5.2019–24.1.2020)

The Ellen Thesleff exhibition presents an overview of the artist’s life and works. Thesleff was one of the first symbolists and expressionists in Finland and a master of printmaking.

We will first visit the Ellen Thesleff exhibition and then try our hand with relief printing techniques. We will create unique monotypes or linocuts.

• Age recommendation: daycare children, 1st–9th graders, high school and vocation school students
• Duration: 2 hours
• The workshop can be integrated with the following subjects in the national school curriculum: Art
• Key competence area: Cultural competence, interaction and expression (L2)

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Ellen Thesleff: Thyra Elisabeth, 1892 / Photo: Museokuva

Paint a fresco

This workshop is a crash course in the art of fresco painting. We examine the frescoes by Tove Jansson and make our own small-scale frescoes using plaster, coal and water-soluble colours.

• Age recommendation: Pre-school, 1st–9th graders, upper secondary and vocational school pupils
• The workshop is associated with the following sections of the national curriculum: Art, History
• Topics: Cultural competence, interaction and expression (L2)
• Duration: 2 hours

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The ABC of art: Mixing colours!

How are the different hues used in paintings created? What is a complementary colour? In this workshop we explore the paintings in HAM’s collections, learn to mix colours and study the colour wheel while working with acrylic paint.

• Recommended age: 1st–6th graders.
• The art workshop is connected to the following parts of the national core curriculum: Visual arts, history, Finnish language and literature
• Topics: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression

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ABC of Art: Colour Theory

What is broken colour? What are tinted and shaded colours? What is colour harmony? This workshop explores in depth the mixing of colours, taking its cue from colours in the collection exhibition. The workshop is suitable for groups who have attended the Mixing colours! workshop previously, or who otherwise know the basic facts of colour mixing. The medium in the workshop is acrylic paint.

• Recommended age: 3rd-6th graders and upper secondary level students.
• Topics: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression
• Duration: 1,5 hours

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Per Stenius, Bandara, 1964 / Photo: Hanna Kukorelli

The ABC of art: Near and far

How do you create depth in a drawing or painting? What is perspective? In this workshop we take a look at the landscapes and cityscapes included in HAM’s collections. We draw pictures using central, atmospheric, frog and value perspectives.

• Recommended age: 1st–6th graders.
• The art workshop is connected to the following parts of the national core curriculum: Visual arts, history, Finnish language and literature
• Topics: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression

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ABC of art - draw a face!

Have you ever wondered how to draw a life-like face? In this workshop you will learn the ABC of drawing a face.

• Age recommendation: 1st–9th graders, upper secondary and vocational school pupils
• The workshop is associated with the following sections of the national curriculum: Art
• Subject areas: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression

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The ABC of art: Shadow and light

Pictures are created with light and shadows. The workshop explores artworks in the exhibition, focusing on how light and shadow are used to created depth and feeling in the picture. Back in the workshop area, participants will create a still life with pastels.

• Recommended age: children in day-care and grades 1–6.
• The workshop is associated with the following sections of the national curriculum: Art
• Subject areas: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and expression
• Duration: 1.5 hours

Inquiry for a workshop