80 Years of Moomin Magic: Helsinki Celebrates Tove Jansson with Art, Design and Storytelling

HELSINKI, Feb. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2025, one Finland's most cherished cultural icons, the Moomins, celebrate their 80th anniversary. Helsinki, home to their beloved creator Tove Jansson, honors this milestone with two major exhibitions and a host of opportunities to explore the artist's life, work and enduring legacy. Beyond gallery walls, Helsinki offers countless opportunities to walk in Jansson's footsteps, from visiting her neighborhoods to discovering landmarks she cherished and statues she inspired. Moomin-themed stores and design items across the city provide the perfect way to take a piece of Tove Jansson's fantastical world home.

Tove Jansson's influence reaches far beyond her famous Moomins. She was a trailblazer in art, literature and design, embodying values of equality, inclusion and openness – principles that resonate deeply with her hometown of Helsinki. This year the Moomins turn 80, and this spirit is echoed in the anniversary theme: "The door is always open." Visitors can experience these values in Helsinki's cultural offerings, many of which are available all year round and free of charge.
 
Explore Tove Jansson's Art at HAM Helsinki Art Museum

HAM Helsinki Art Museum kicks off the Moomin's anniversary year with Tove Jansson – Paradise, a landmark exhibition featuring over 180 works, including her monumental frescoes, smaller decorative pieces, and previously unseen sketches. This is the first time Jansson's public murals, created during the 1940s and 1950s, are brought together in one place. From playful decorative details to grand frescoes filled with joy and beauty, the exhibition offers an unparalleled glimpse into Jansson's versatility and talent as a visual storyteller. Highlights include six large charcoal drawings that offer rare insights into her creative process. The sketches were found in Jansson's studio and have never before been shown to the public. The exhibition has garnered significant international interest and has been featured in publications such as the Financial Times and The Guardian.

HAM also houses a permanent gallery dedicated to Jansson, which showcases her frescoes Party in the City and Party in the Countryside, along with other rotating works. These pieces provide insight into her life, including references to her personal relationships and artistic journey. In "Party in the City" Tove's then (secret) love, theatre director Vivica Bandler can be seen on the dance floor, while Jansson herself sits in the foreground, with a little Moomin figure standing beside her on the table.

HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8
Open Until 6 April 2025

Discover Jansson's Architectural Vision at the Design Museum

The Moomin 80 anniversary year will culminate in a groundbreaking exhibition at the Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki, opening in October 2025 and highlighting Tove Jansson's vision of architecture and design. Jansson was famous for her ability to create spaces that feel alive, welcoming and filled with possibility, from her own homes and summer cottages to the caves of childhood play. The exhibition connects her personal life, from her early years in central Helsinki to her summers in the Finnish archipelago, with her literary creations, like the Moominhouse – a place of safety, warmth and joy, where the door always stands open.

Through never-before-seen collection highlights, detailed glimpses into Tove Jansson's personal surroundings come to life in this exhibition organised in collaboration with Moomin Characters.

Design Museum Helsinki, Korkeavuorenkatu 23
Opening in October 2025

Walk in Tove Jansson's Footsteps

Helsinki offers a wealth of Tove Jansson-related landmarks that allow visitors to follow in her footsteps. Start at her childhood home in Katajanokka, where Jansson grew up surrounded by the sea and the vibrant cultural life of her family. Stroll through Tove Jansson Park, where she used to play, and visit the Halkolaituri pier, where she ice-skated in winter and later departed for summers on her island retreat of Klovharun.

Don't miss the Esplanade Park to admire Mermaid Fountain, a sculpture Tove Jansson's artist-father Viktor Jansson modeled after his daughter. Other must-see spots include her former studio and home at Ullanlinnankatu 1, where she lived from 1944 until she passed away in 2001. The studio is privately owned, but you can see the plaque outside and marvel at the huge windows of the studio on the top floor of the corner. You can also check out Svenska Teatern, where her Moomin play debuted in 1949. If you know Swedish, you can even catch a play. Don't miss the Moomin Shop Espa, located in the same building. The shop also hosts rotating mini-exhibitions from the Moomin and Tove Jansson archives and offers a wide assortment of books in different languages.

More addresses related to Tove Jansson's Helsinki can be found in the newly redesigned MyHelsinki.fi website, in articles such as Experience Helsinki like Tove Jansson and Moomins in Helsinki: A "Troll" through the city.

Bring the Moomins Home

Helsinki is a treasure trove for Moomin enthusiasts, with many themed stores and cafés where visitors can immerse themselves in the whimsical world of the Moominvalley – or bring a piece of the Moomins back home with them.

Browse for cherished design items like the iconic Arabia Moomin mugs at the Iittala & Arabia flagship store (Pohjoisesplanadi 23) or clothing that captures adorned with Jansson's illustrations at the Moomin Shop in Lasipalatsi (Mannerheimintie 22-24), where the interior draws inspiration from The Moomins and the Great Flood – the book that launched the Moomin journey back in 1945. At Helsinki Airport's Moomin Café, travelers can enjoy a last taste of Finland while surrounded by playful Moomin decor.

For more inspiration and information on Helsinki visit MyHelsinki.fi.

More information
Leena Karppinen 
Senior Manager, PR & Communications 
Helsinki Partners 
[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/helsinki-partners/r/80-years-of-moomin-magic--helsinki-celebrates-tove-jansson-with-art--design-and-storytelling,c4099454

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE City of Helsinki