Exhibitions
The diverse offering of exhibitions in Porvoo Museum showcases events and phenomena in the fields of culture, art and nature. The exhibitions in the Old Town Hall and the Holm House take you on a journey through the ages from the ice age to the 1800s.
Exhibitions in the Holm House
The Holm House is a house of a wealthy merchant, built in the 1760s. In the first floor of the building there is the museum shop and a workshop space called Konkkaronkka, which is used from time to time as a gallery for temporary exhibitions.
The Merchant’s Home
The second floor of the Holm House is furnished to look like the home of a wealthy merchant from the 1700s. The exhibition is like a visit to the 18th century where you get a glimpse of the every day life of the Holm family that built the house.
Exhibitions at the Old Town Hall
The Old Town Hall in Porvoo is the oldest town hall in Finland. The building has three floors of exhibitions showing art, design, cultural history and natural history from the collections of the Porvoo Museum. The exhibitions tell about the history of Porvoo and the people who lived there.
Albert Edelfelt
Albert Edelfelt is one of the most well-known painters of Finland and also one of the most internationally-successful Finnish artists. The exhibition in Porvoo Museum contains portraits Edelfelt painted of his inner circle as well as portraits from the areas in and near Porvoo. In 2023 many of the paintings on show will be on loan to the National Gallery Ateneum.
Link to the collection. >>
Ville Vallgren
Ville Vallgren, who worked for the most part of his career abroad, is a unique actor on the field of Finnish sculpture. In the exhibition there are statuettes, objects and a few larger sculptures, among them Porvoo’s very own Little-Manta, aka a plaster sketch of the sculpture Havis Amanda, which is in Helsinki.
Link to the collection. >>
Johan Knutson
Scanian Johan Knutson lived in Porvoo for the most part of his life. A selection of his oil paintings from the different decades of the 1800s can be seen in the exhibition.
Link to the collection. >>
AB Iris
AB Iris was a factory that began operations in Porvoo in 1897. It specialized in high-class furniture and interior design. The company was funded specifically to renew the Finnish crafts in the spirit of the English Arts and Crafts movement. The exhibition includes furniture designed by Louis Sparre and an extensive collection of ceramics by A. W. Finch. In 2023 Porvoo Museum will hold a temporary exhibition in the Holm House about the operations and output of the factory.
Link to the collection. >>
Saara Hopea-Untracht
Porvoo-born Saara Hopea-Untracht is one of the most respected designers of Finland. A wide range of examples from the artist’s works are exhibited.
Link to the collection. >>
Ruling the Riversides
A cultural historical exhibition that depicts life in eastern Uusimaa from the latest ice age until the 1700s.
Link to the online exhibition >>
Life in Porvoo
The permanent exhibition in the third floor of the Old Town Hall is about the history of the city and its people during the 1800s.
Temporary exhibitions
Temporary exhibitions are held in the first floor of the Holm House and the great hall in the second floor of the Old Town Hall.
Helga Sonck-Majewski – Weave of Nature
8.4.2022 – 16.4.2023 The Old Town Hall
The artist Helga Sonck-Majewski (1916-2015) moved to Porvoo in 1943. She was an unforgettable character, and the essence of her art is an all-embracing love of nature.
She first worked as a pharmacist at a local pharmacy in Porvoo, but she found the idea of being an artist more appealing, so during 1950–1953 she studied at the Finnish Art Academy school. Helga Sonck-Majewski held her first exhibition at Porvoo museum in 1956. For several decades the artist was one of the central figures in the artistic life of Porvoo and she was even involved in founding the Porvoo Art Association in 1966.
The focus of the exhibition is on paintings of flowers and portraits, such as the colourful portrait of her relative Carl Eric Sonck from 1965.
The works on display are from the collection donated to Porvoo museum in 2018 by the artist Viggo Wallensköld and the exhibition is part of Porvoo Museums exhibition program for its jubilee 2022.
Coming exhibitions
Other exhibitions
Porvoo Museum organizes exhibitions and maintains collections even in other locations.
J. L. Runeberg’s Home Museum
The national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg’s home was made into a museum in 1882. In the museum exhibition there are objects that belonged to the Runeberg family, in their rightful places. The impressive building is full of furniture, artworks, kitchenware, hunting weapons and as a specialty house plants which are grown from cuttings from Fredrika Runeberg’s house plants. A garden and a building in the yard are also part of the museum. J. L. Runeberg’s Home Museum is the oldest home museum in Finland. It is maintained in collaboration with Porvoo Museum and the city of Porvoo. The government of Finland owns the museum and its collection.
The city of Porvoo has responsibility over the public program and supervision of the exhibitions in the Runeberg’s Home.
More information >>
Walter Runeberg’s Sculpture Collection
Walter Runeberg was a pioneering artist on the field of Finnish sculpture. The exhibition includes portraits of artists and scientists, sketches for monuments and grave markers as well as sculptures inspired by ancient mythology.
The city of Porvoo has responsibility over the supervision of the exhibition.
More information >>
The Porvoo Veterans’ Room
The collection exhibition in the Veterans’ Room commemorates the people of Porvoo during the Second World War.
The volunteers from the association Porvoon Sota-ajan muistoyhdistys ry – Krigsminnesföreningen i Borgå rf have responsibility for the supervision of the exhibition.
The shopping mall Lundi, Rauhankatu 26 A. Open on Saturdays 12–15.
Inquiries: Raili Korpiluoma 040 550 6331