The Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum, has opened its doors again after a five-month closure due to Covid restrictions.
The museum has been closed since 30 November, and visitor numbers will initially be restricted to 60 people per hour and six people per room.
Currently, Ateneum is featuring a special exhibition presenting the most famous historical paintings of Russian artist Ilja Repin (1844–1930). Due to the pandemic, the exhibition can only be accessed with a pre-purchased ticket and only the third floor of the museum is open to visitors.
Advance tickets required
Ticket sales opened a week ago and within the first few hours 5,000 tickets were snapped up. The upcoming weeks are already sold out, but there are still plenty of tickets available before the exhibition closes at the end of August.
Repin is considered the most significant Russian artist of his time, depicting the Russian people and the intellectuals of the era, and he has strongly influenced the Finnish perception of what it means to be Russian.
The painter, who was born in what is now Ukraine, had a home on the Finnish side of the Terijoki River in Kuokkala from 1903 to 1930. During Repin’s time in Kuokkala he donated a hundred works of art to Ateneum, museum director Marja Sakari told Yle.
The exhibition features more than 140 paintings and works, and most of the pieces will be on display for the first time in Helsinki. After Ateneum, the exhibition will make its way to Paris.
The museum's communications manager, Johanna Eiramo, says the appetite for culture is high in Finland.
"I believe there is a floodgate opening, once we are able to re-open the cultural sector. I think people feel a need to access culture, as long as it is safe," Eiramo said.