Arktikum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and science centre in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, which opened in 1992. The building is also a popular culture destination and venue for meetings and conferences and has a cafe and library to serve the customers. Two separate exhibitions operate at Arktikum: the Arctic Center, and the regional museum of Lapland, founded in 1975.

Exhibitions

The exhibitions at the Provincial Museum of Lapland and the Arctic Center examine culture, history, and modern life in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

. Concepts such as human life in tune with nature are explored in depth. There are also temporary exhibitions in Arktikum.

History

Arktikum opened to the public on 6 December 1992, the 75th anniversary of Finland's independence. It was designed by Danish architect group Birch-Bonderup & Thorup-Waade. The crescent-shaped new annex was designed by Claus Bonderup and Janne Lehtipalo, and it was completed in autumn 1997.

Architecture

Plenty of local natural materials have been used in the building: the floors are made from Perttaus granite – the hardest type available in Finland – and from lime-washed Lapland pine. The chairs are made from birch and reindeer hide. The most visible part of the museum, its glass corridor, is 172 metres long in all and it is bisected by the 30-metre wide Kittilä highway. The tube serves as the “Gateway to the North”, as the entrance foyer is at the southern end and guests head north when coming in. The exhibition space is sheltered below the ground, mimicking the way animals in the North take cover from the harsh, cold winter by burrowing under the snow.

Awards

According to Topworld International, the museum is the 4th best travel attraction in Finland.

Gallery

File:Rovaniemi Arktikum 1.jpg, Building File:Rovaniemi Arktikum 01.jpg, Main hall File:Arktikum and Northern Lights.jpg, Northern lights File:Arktikum museum and science centre.jpg, Winter File:Arktikum museum and science centre Polar bear.jpg, Arctic exhibition File:Arktikum museum and science centre, bear.jpg, Northern Ways exhibition File:Inuit sculpture, Canada - Arctic Museum.jpg,

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

sculpture

References

External links

Official website
Science museums in Finland Rovaniemi Museums in Lapland (Finland) {{finland-museum-stub