Cultural life in Jyväskylä or Where to go on Friday night? Museums

    Finland - a country of thousands of lakes and islands with outstandingly beautiful nature and breath taking clean air is a wonderful destination for traveling, winter sports and of course education. In the heart of the country lies a truly town of universities - Jyväskylä. Despite of its' tiny size and population (a bit over 130.000 inhabitants) it has become a destination for thousands of students from all around the world coming here ether for exchange or for a full time degree studies.
    When coming to Jyväskylä one can right away appreciate the great location of the city in between great forests and lakes. Despite of the history of the town (being primarily industrial sight) Jyväskylä became home for scholars and academic intellectuals as well as prominent artists. One of the most well known Finnish architects and designers - Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto  , a pioneer of Nordic modernism movement in architecture, grew up here and planned many remarkable buildings (also on the University's campus) which you can see in the town till this day.
    When planning your leisure time - Jyväskylä has a range of places/activities to offer, all depends on your taste and preferences. For international students it might seem difficult to find information since most of cultural events and venues mostly advertise to locals thus you may notice lack of information about cultural activities in English. However we are about to fix this gap and suggest you some places you might want to visit on your free time.

Museums

By the way, did you know that most of museums in Jyväskylä have a free entry policy on Fridays? So if you happen to pass by any of our next suggested locations, feel free to pop in!

1. Alvar Aalto Museum (Alvar Aallon katu 7, Jyväskylä)

          Museum, is specialised in architecture and design. It was founded in 1966 to foster the legacy of the architecture of Alvar Aalto. The museum is located in a building designed by Aalto and completed in 1973. The museum houses a permanent exhibition on the life work of Alvar Aalto. The current permanent exhibition was opened in 1998, the centennial of Aalto's birth.

The mission of the building heritage section of the museum is the protection of buildings designed by Alvar Aalto.

   (photo: JYU students attend guided tour at Alvar Aalto museum during Jyväskylä Students' Art Festival - JSAF 2017)

2. Jyväskylä Arts Museum (Kauppakatu 23, Jyväskylä)

     Jyväskylä Art Museum nurtures the cultural heritage of visual arts in Central Finland, producing and transmitting experiences and knowledge of pictorial culture in interaction with its community. In addition, the museum creates and develops new forms and models of activity. Events and workshops are free of charge unless otherwise stated. Paintings, sculptures, digital art installations, photographs and much much more will keep your imagination and mind busy while visiting.

    Photos: Hosted by JYU students ( Nordic Art Network ry) new media and digital art exhibition: "City of Digital Art 2018" that brought over 1550 visitors to the Art museum just in 3 days.

3. Jyväskylä crafts museum (Kauppakatu 25, Jyväskylä)

     The Craft Museum of Finland is a specialized museum for handicraft covering entire Finland. The museum covers all techniques of handicraft, from house building to lace making and from forging to the design of ornaments. The National Costume Center of Finland and The Conservation Center are part of the museum. One of the main task is to make handicraft well known. Museum co-operates with artisans and craftsmen, general public, schools, any educational institutions from elementary school to university. The aim is to get people to see handicraft as a part of our life.

 4. Natural History Museum of Central Finland (Vesilinna Watching Tower, Ihantolantie 5, Jyväskylä)
 
   

   

     The Natural History Museum has an impressive collection of over 250 000 samples of flora and fauna typical for Central Finland. In addition to the museum premises in Vesilinna Watching Tower, there is a collection of plans in the main university campus.

   5. Toivolan Vanha Piha (Cygnaeuksenkatu 2, Jyväskylä)

     

      The site at Cygnaksenkatu 2 is the sole remaining example of an artisan’s home and courtyard, from a time when the buildings of downtown Jyväskylä were predominantly made of wood.  Artisanship has been an integral part of the rich history of the site. 

     Founded in 1837, the town plan of Jyväskylä was plotted out on a grid, according to the fashion of the day.  There were 143 lots marked out.  In 1838, among the first of the lots to be sold, was lot number 111, which is the lot where Toivola Old Courtyard located.

Originally from Heinola, dyer Anders Nygrèn bought the lot at auction for 50 rubles in 1838, and erected a two room building to house an artisan and family.  The dyer moved away from Jyväskylä upon completion of the building in 1840.

    6. Museum of Central Finland (Alvar Aallon katu 7, Jyväskylä)

        The Museum of Central Finland focuses on cultural history of the region. Here you can trace the development of Central Finland from the prehistoric times to the 1990’s. Besides the permanent exhibitions, the museum arranges temporary art exhibitions and events. The museum was built in two stages. Alvar Aalto  was commissioned to draw the architectural plans for it in 1956; the building was opened in May 1961 with interior designs by Alvar Aalto's Architects' Office and Maija Heikinheimo and Marja-Liisa Parko from Artek.

    7. Finnish Air Force Museum (Tikkakoskentie 125, Jyvaskyla)
   

        The basic exhibition consists mainly of aircraft, engines and aircrew equipment which has been used by the Finnish Air Force. The equipment of Air Force Signals Museum has its own section. A large collection of scale models gives a wider perspective to the whole field of aviation.
The museum has also a cafeteria and and museum shop.
 
     8. Kuokkalan kartano (Hämeenpohjantie 50, Kyväskylä)

        Kuokkala Manor was built by Julius Johnson built in 1904. Building was restored in the 1990s. Today, the manor house has a café open all year round and an art exhibition. There are works on the art and changing exhibitions. The atmospheric coffee rooms, café delicacies, background music, surrounding art and antique furniture provide all the senses. Small family parties, graduations or meetings can be arranged in the manor.

        In the next posts we will expand on cultural life of Jyväskylä and provide you more tips and suggest more places to spend your free time like live music venues, cultural events and prominent landmarks of Jyväskylä. You don't want to miss next edition of this blog! :)

        To catch up with more news about up-coming cultural events in Jyväskylä you are welcome to join : Jyväskylä Art Network group on Facebook, where more updates and information about upcoming events are published (community is maintained by Nordic Art Network ry).

        Have a great Friday and a weekend ahead!

     
        Oleksiy Kovalenko, Student ambassador

        MSc International Business and Entrepreneurship