This autumn, the Otaniemi Polytechnical Students’ Museum celebrates its 60th anniversary with appropriate elation and activity. But what on earth is the Polytechnical Students’ Museum?
In her blog text, Museum Director Tiina Metso transports the reader from the moments of the Museum’s birth to the current day and explains how the best Teekkari Museum in the world is operated and developed.
A poster inviting volunteers to help at the Museum in 1957/58
A Museum is a window to a community that displays both the past and the present. A museum must look like its makers, not like a distressing mausoleum. At best, a museum is an exhibition that brings different people together and in which conversations are had, connections made and celebratory moments enjoyed. In the words of Snoopy, a museum offers “food for thought.”
The Polytechnical Students’ Museum, also known as the Teekkari Museum, has been offering diverse glimpses of the past via objects and especially stories for the last six decades. Preferably accompanied by joyous laughter.
The road to the current basement museum has not been straightforward. The museum was born in 1957 as a result of volunteer work at the old Poly (i.e. the Student Union of the Helsinki University of Technology’s old building on Lönnrotinkatu); its age is counted onwards from the appointment of the first Museum committee a year later. It is fun to see that the first Museum already displayed various traffic signs and logos that had been grabbed along the way. Apparently, some things never change.
The journey has gone from the Harbour City via the mini exhibition located in the brand-new student centre Dipoli’s Klondyke to finding a permanent home in the vibrant heart of the Teekkari village. Water damages have been escaped to the old bank facilities of Otakaari 11 and even to the bike cellar in Otaranta. Another escape is ahead already in spring 2019.
From the beginning, the basic idea and bright guiding star of the Museum has been collaboration, whether in renovating the facilities, collecting materials or celebrating important events. Every involved volunteer has always found their own place and purpose as part of the bigger group.
When dealing with larger undertakings, the Museum invites the community to help, and this call has always been answered generously. In the Museum’s previous renovations, hundreds of volunteer hours were donated in the fair spirit of communal work. That is why the Museum is the community’s Museum, where the most valuable thing is doing things yourself and together.
The Museum evolves through changing times. The community surrounding it is changing, adapting and becoming more communal. That is why the Museum must also reflect the current age, just like its operators. Considering what is ahead is also an important part of evolvement and development. That is why the Museum is determined to recruit and train new guides and other museum operators. Without them, the Museum would be a lifeless storage facility.
There is more truth to the slogan ‘the best Teekkari Museum in the world’ than people think. The Museum is a member of the International Council of Museums ICOM, according to whose information it is the only student-owned and operated museum in the world. At the same time, it is the world’s only museum focusing solely on student culture.
The achievement of world-class greatness is the fruit of the labour of several generations of Teekkaris and thousands of volunteers that gives joy to thousands of visitors annually. The Museum’s collections are growing and supplemented all the time. This is thanks to all donors and object hunters. Each donation and acquisition is received with gratitude.
Such a unique museum deserves to be celebrated with joy and large crowds. That is why the Museum’s 60th anniversary will be celebrated on the premises on Saturday 6 Oct at 2–5 pm. The celebrations are part of the programme of the Otaniemi Night of Arts campus festival. In addition to refreshments, the programme features greetings from the Museum’s early years and fun vignettes with the mysterious headline ‘That’s me in this photo!’
We wish you heartily welcome!!
In Otaniemi in September 2018
Tiina Metso
Museum Director