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Visiting a childhood favourite The Moomin family has taken the world by storm for over 60 years with their loving nature and fun adventures. In Tampere, Finland, the Moomin world comes alive at the Moomin Museum, which is home to the original Moomin illustrations and books. In spring 2019, the museum will open a new exhibition showcasing the history of the Moomin animations, as well as a Moomin Museum Midwinter one-day event. By Josefine Older Steffensen
The Moomin Museum is the only one of its kind in the world. Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins, donated the entire Moomin art collection to the museum in 1986, and it has been on display since the year after. In June 2017, a brand new museum opened to house the collection where visitors find themselves immersed in the permanent exhibition, Guess What Happens Next?, which tells the story of all the Moomin books written and illustrated by Jansson. “There are about 300 original Moomin illustrations on display in our permanent exhibition,” explains Minna Honkasalo, 74 | Issue 119 | December 2018
researcher at the Moomin Museum. “It’s always exciting to see people’s reactions and to see them discover the originals of the characters they’ve loved since childhood.”
A midwinter spectacular On 2 March 2019, the Moomin world will come alive in Tampere. Inspired by the book Moominland Midwinter, where Moomintroll wakes up from hibernation to discover a new world to enjoy with his friends, the Moomin Museum and Visit Tampere wanted to create the same adventure for the locals and visitors of Tampere. “The winters in Finland are
long, cold and dark, but that’s not to say they can’t be enjoyable!” This year, the event brought 10,000 visitors, and next year’s event is set to be even bigger. “There are many activities such as ice skating, snow-shoe walking, saunas, an outdoor hot tub, live music, tipis and Finnish food, as well as rolling in the snow after the sauna, as us Finns do,” says Honkasalo. Everything on the day is free, apart from food and drink, but it is possible to bring a picnic along and enjoy it by one of the many fires. “Because the days are so dark, we light up the park to create a real sense of magic and a wonderful atmosphere. It almost feels like you’re part of one of the Moomin stories,” Honkasalo explains.
Thrills and cuddles The first Moomin animation to premiere was a German series in 1959. Since then,