The Museum of Torne Valley opens the next temporary exhibition Portraits, linguistic biographies and voices from Tornedalen and Malmfälten to the public from Friday 27.9. The exhibition has been realized by Jaana Kolu (linguist and professor at the University of Eastern Finland, docent at the University of Oulu), born and raised in Keminmaa, with the help of The Museum of Torne Valley.
The exhibition presents the linguistic life stories of the Meänkieli and Finnish-speaking Torne Valley and Malmfälten residents through texts, photographs and voices. The exhibition gives an insight into how the national minority languages Finnish and Meänkieli have been preserved over generations in Tornedalian families in Sweden. On the other hand, the exhibition also highlights the reasons why some people have lost the language of their parents’ generation.
“See [meänkieli] on minun äitinkieli, it is my culture and my tradition, my language.” tells Ida about her own attitude towards the Meänkieli in her linguistic biography in the exhibition.
The exhibition is part of Jaana Kolu’s research project “Linguistic biographies of Swedish Finns and Tornedalians in three generations”. Later, a book will be published on the theme. This exhibition presents interview material collected in various parts of northern Sweden. Some of the people interviewed were photographed in places that they themselves were allowed to choose.
The exhibition’s language narratives are enhanced by Lotta Nyberg’s, Pauli Raitaniemi’s and Antti Kohonen’s photographs as well as Elena Sulis’ and Frank Rizzo’s audio work, which were made based on the interviews. The exhibition is open at the museum until 12.1.2025.
