What’s on

The Museum of the Deaf opened in Helsinki on 22 October 2024. Sign language culture and its long history is one of the themes of the exhibition. The exhibition features art and culture spanning more than a century, from visual to performing arts. Among them are a sign language choir from a hundred years ago and the sign language rapper Signmark. In addition to culture, the museum looks at the history of the sign language community from the perspectives of education, working life, associations, family life and leisure.

The museum also tells the story of the deaf community’s fight for equality. Deaf people have had to fight for their status as a linguistic and cultural minority. Finnish society strived for uniformity, which meant that sign language was not allowed to be used in deaf education for almost a hundred years. In the 20th century, human rights were also violated through marriage bans and the sterilisation of deaf women.

Founded in 1907, the Museum of the Deaf is one of Finland’s oldest museums serving both sign language speakers and the majority population. The museum is run in co-operation between the Finnish Association of the Deaf and the Werstas Labour Museum. The exhibition premises are located in the Light House in Helsinki and the collections are stored in Tampere.

Museum of the Deaf
Valkea talo, Ilkantie 4, Helsinki
Open during the opening hours of the Valkea talo Mon-Fri 8.00-15.30
FREE ENTRY