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New Timelines for Accidental Tourists


My Helsinki City Museum colleague Jari Harju tells me that very early on, the museum decided that the permanent exhibition in the new building (opened 2016) would not be chronological. The team felt that to focus on "big history"--external political events--would undercut the emphasis on stories and personal connection so central to the museum's efforts to reach local residents. But what about visitors who arrive knowing absolutely nothing about Finnish history? Indeed, many foreigners wander in--often straight from the nearby cruise ships--not even having planned to visit a museum: "accidental tourists," the staff calls them. The museum decided to make a special timeline in the lobby for them. It's 3-1/2 minutes, animated, and completely silent.


It starts with a blank screen, with a dozen three-dimensional objects attached:


Soon, there is motion; the city is being built:

Key historical moments are headlined as the timeline advances:


Along the way, the objects get woven into the visual story (the teapot boils; the car is connected to a highway)--a kind of object-theater:




By the end, the screen is full, a bustling city with historical roots. Then the loop restarts.



Meanwhile, across town...a very different museum, the National Museum of Finland, has been experimenting with timelines, too. It recently re-installed its Stone and Iron Age galleries. One section includes a traditional timeline, with a twist. Instead of rows and rows of spearpoints and other artifacts, there is just a screen with handles, a few labels, and a lot of white space.


As one slides the screen along the path, seemingly hundreds of artifacts flash by, each with a specific date--8858 B.C.E.:


8310 B.C.E.:


164 A.D.

For the "accidental tourist" who has stumbled into the Stone Age, the whizzing timeline pulls one away from the details and conveys a general sense of change over time, of the craftsmanship of people so long ago, and of the richness of the museum's holdings.


Finally, the National Museum's gallery of 20th-century history, also recently reinstalled, includes a quirky timeline of its own. A wall of formal portraits shows all of Finland's presidents in black and white. But there is one empty frame:


"Are you Finland's next president?" asks a screen in the adjacent photo booth. Sit, pose, push a button, and a minute later your own picture appears in the frame, completing the timeline: a fun activity and a nice message about being part of history. (I may have to look into visa requirements.)


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