The development of Finnish museums over the last forty years

Abstract

The focus of this article is the development of Finnish museums since the 1970s, when the Ministry of Education started to understand the social benefits of museums as social memory organizations with activities of research and education. At this point in time the Ministry began actively developing the preconditions for museum work, the main ”tools” being several political museum committees which created a museum hierarchy and network, ensured state subsidy through museum acts, established university studies of museology, and gave support to the Finnish Museums Association.