Also notable: The Cygnaeus Gallery: mainly of Finnish 19th century paintings and sculpture Taidehalli (Art Hall) Amos Anderson Art Museum Didrichsen Art Museum Museum of Photographic Art Theatre Museum Villa Gyllenberg Natural History Museum Alvar Aalto Museum of Architectural Heritage The Finnish Museum of Horology The Ski Museum b. Theatres Finnish National Theatre Founded in 1872, it played a key role in the birth of a national consciousness. Resisting against Russian domination as well as the hegemonic Swedish language, the Finnish National Theatre had a linguistically political mandate—and its interest in national politics is still fresh now. Kristian Smeds’ 2007 production of The Unknown Soldier stirred up so much public debate that it’s still making the front page from time to time. Helsinki City Theatre A popular stage for big-name plays and musicals, including translations of major international works as well as Finnish classics. Svenska Teatern Because the Swedish-speaking Finns love their theatre, too. Catering to a minority tongue, the Svenska offers up a large variety of shows, from Moomin adventures for children to large spectacles to Shakespeare to contemporary drama—particularly Nordic writers like Lars Noren. Alexander Theatre What used to be the Helsinki opera is now just a magnificently classical theatre space seating nearly 500. Famous dance company Tero Saarinen Company trains and performs here, and there’s also plenty of international guests on the programme. Zodiak Helsinki’s centre for contemporary dance, housed in the Cable Factory, with multiple large spaces. Not only are they active with local performance and international guests, but they’re constantly coming up with new ways to reach out to audiences. Most often this means workshops and other activities, many of them also targeted to children or elderly people. Q-Teatteri One of Helsinki’s many artist-run theatre groups, Q-Teatteri has a more experimental bent, and their hearts set on the continued artistic development of theatre in Finland. They host the Baltic Circle Festival when it’s in Finland, an event with top-notch performances as well as plenty of round-table talks and activites for professionals and audience alike. The Reality Research Centre One of Helsinki’s most active contemporary performance groups, TTK operate wherever: in their
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