Collection collaboration

We coordinate the nationwide division of collecting duties of the Finnish museums. Our aim therefore is to rationalise the collecting duties, erase overlapping work, divide the collecting duties and thus promote the formation of comprehensive quality collections.

When a single museum takes responsibility for collecting a certain phenomenon nationwide, other museums are able to concentrate on their respective collecting themes. The division of duties helps museums to aim their accessions and focus resources on their core tasks. The division of collecting duties also provides an overall picture of Finnish museum collections and their interconnections.

The nationwide division of collecting duties consists of seven themes, within which the museums choose collecting duties according to their interests. The collecting duties of museums are often so vast that they cover multiple themes.

The themes are as follows:

1: People and nature
2: Individuals and society
3: Everyday life
4: Industrial Heritage
5: Communications, Transport and Tourism
6: Art, Education and the Personal Experience
7: Trends, Influentials and National Turning Points

We have more than a hundred museums participating in the nationwide division of collecting duties. These museums sign a collaboration contract with the Finnish Heritage Agency. The museums participate in the division of collecting duties voluntarily and according to their resources. The museums are able to update their collecting duties each year and despite the nationwide division the museums may still collect what they want. The accessions are presented in aggregate form in the TAKO autumn seminar every year. The material may also be examined online. The visualisation can be found here (in Finnish).