Red Waves – Historical Conflicts in Museum Context Helsinki 13th - 14th November 2018. The first event of the project and it’s an international meeting for project partners to discuss and to connect with each other. There will be more events incoming in 2019, which we’ll be hosting. The theme of the first event is historical conflicts in museum context and we’ll be discussing on how are historical conflicts represented in museums today, how we should be representing them and how we probably will be representing them in the future in museum contexts. Director of Museum Services in the National Museum of Finland Tiina Mertanen will open the meeting with a welcoming speech. Speaker Introductions:

Stefan Wessman UNESCO-specialist and a maritime archaeologist of the Finnish Heritage Agency Conflicts as cultural heritage Mr. Stefan Wessman is a Team Leader and a Senior Advisor in the Section for International Affairs in the Finnish Heritage Agency. Stefan is one of the renowned authorities within the Finnish cultural heritage field and has been for over the past 15 years. In his current post, Stefan holds the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of various UNESCO conventions on national level in Finland. These being: the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the 1972 convention concerning the protection of the World cultural and natural heritage and the 2001 convention on protection of the underwater cultural heritage. Stefan is also well-known figure internationally as he also represents Finnish Heritage Agency in different international organizations alongside his colleagues. Stefan is also involved in practice with the protection, management and conservation of both underwater and terrestrial cultural heritage sites. His expertise stems from his academic roots, which lie in studying both Nordic Folklore in Åbo Akademi University and archaeology in University of . In the latter, Stefan specializes in the underwater branch of the field. Lately his personal interest and study has been focusing around the medieval seafaring in Finnish waters AD 1100– 1500. In his keynote, Stefan will guide us to ponder conflicts as cultural heritage, with the aid of his diverse and deep experience in working with tangible heritage.

Mikko Meronen Curator at Forum Marinum The representation of conflicts in museums Mr. Mikko Meronen is a curator of Finnish naval history at the Maritime Centre Forum Marinum. The centre comprises a national special maritime museum and the Finnish Navy Museum. In his post Mikko is responsible for the work concerning collections, publications and exhibitions about Finnish naval history. He has also been in charge of or taken part in several exhibition projects, including the following: ”A Coastal City in the Winter War (2009-2010), ”Gangut-Rilax-Riilahti 1714, 300 Years Since the Battle of Gangut (2014-2015)”, ”From Water to Flight – History of Finnish Seaplane Aviation (2014)” and ”Securing Shipping and Safeguarding Society – The Finnish Navy 100 Years (2018)”. Currently Mikko is planning a book on the Tuima Class missile boats of the Finnish Navy, drafting a future exhibition on the Finnish born naval officers in the Russian Imperial Navy and contemplating the future of the museum’s unique sea mine collections. Mikko is not only a talented museum professional, but also very active and productive researcher, whose academic roots are in the University of Turku, in the study of Finnish history. He is fascinated by the early history of the Finnish Naval Forces and his research interests are directed towards Finnish naval officers in the Russian Imperial Navy and naval vessels built in Turku. He has written several articles on Finnish naval history as well as the history of ship and engine production in Turku. Mikko also wrote and edited a book ”Taisto-luokan moottoritorpedoveneet” (Motor Torpedo Boats of Taisto Class) published in 2011. Recently he was a member of the editorial board and co- writer of the book ”Energy – two centuries of power machinery production on the banks of River Aura” which was published in 2017. In his keynote Mikko will invite us to think about the role of museums in representation of conflicts aided with his expertise stemming from a long history of working with framing conflict as a part of exhibitions.

Katriina Siivonen The vice director and adjunct professor of The Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) The future of representation of conflicts in museums Leads: discussion-workshop for guests Mrs. Katriina Siivonen is the Vice Director of the Finland Future Research Centre (FFRC) and University Lecturer in Futures Studies in Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, and Adjunct Professor in Cultural Heritage Studies at University of Turku. Katriina has a Ph.D. in the European Ethnology and her current research areas at FFRC are Heritage Futures and Futures Museum for sustainable development, Ground and Growth (cultural transformation towards ecological sustainability), Futures of migration and Empowerment of young people. She is active in domestic and international research networks and she has societal and academic expert positions in her research field, such as the position of chair in the Expert Group for Intangible Cultural Heritage, intended to support in Finland the implementation of Unesco Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and membership in the Board of the Foundation for Cultural Policy Research in Finland. In her field of research interest, she emphasizes the maritime areas. Her academic specialization consists of critical futures research and critical cultural heritage studies, which include semiotic theory of culture and incorporates methodology from ethnography and from qualitative, participatory futures research. Underneath the theme of Heritage Futures and Futures Museum for sustainable development, the activities of the team she is leading is developing both theoretical questions as well as the understanding of the substance and relevant societal networks. In her keynote, Katriina will guide us to dive into the role of museums in co-creating different futures in the society. She will lead us to think about the creation of alternative futures with the help of cultural heritage concerning conflicts and the future role of museums in representing conflicts. In the panel-discussion workshop, Katriina will be leading us with a gentle steer into challenging our minds as we discuss about historical conflicts in museum context and the representation of them.

Marcus Lepola ‘Svensksund AD 1790’ -project researcher at The Maritime Museum of Finland The significance of The Battles of Svensksund in the history of The Baltic Sea Mr. Marcus Lepola is currently the researcher in the project Kadonnut Ruotsinsalmi (eng. Svensksund AD 1790 – Beneath the red waves) of The Maritime Museum of Finland, which is funded by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation. The main responsibility of creating a coherent report on the archive and archaeological material relating to the events of Svensksund in the end of 18th century rests on his shoulders. Previously he has worked in the coastal area of Finland, in the surrounding area around city of Turku. Between the years of 2003–2009 he was the local development officer in the archipelago area for the Europian Union Leader -program. After this post, for the past nine years he was researcher at the museum department of Pargas. During that time, he was involved in several museum related projects, for example he has recently worked with exhibitions focusing on the 18th century history: “Times of Strife” at the Archipelago Center of Korpoström (2018) and “Nagu and the Naval War of Gustavus III” at the Maritime house in Nagu (2018). The academic home of Marcus is in ethnography and he graduated with his M.A in 2002 from Åbo Akademi University. His academic interest has brought into a fruition a study of scattered 19th century collections of Russian America. Currently Marcus is partaking in a Ph.D. program at the Åbo Akademi University, where his research is focusing on the role the Russian American collections had to the development of Finnish museums and how those collections were perceived. In his keynote Marcus will introduce us to the greatest marine battles fought in the Baltic Sea and explores the significance these events had for the overall history. His introduction will also serve as a concrete example of a historical conflict, which will serve as fertile soil for our discussion- workshop. Summaries of Speeches:

Mikko Meronen Forum Marinum The Representation of Conflicts in Museums I was challenged to think about this subject more closely by the theme of the seminar and my own presentation. I have never been a fan of extremeties or over-analyzing, so perhaps I may be slightly wrong person to talk about this subject. I have still decided to give it a try. My colleague Pauli Kivistö said to me ”so great a seminar on conflicts in museums while executing exhibition projects”. While working on a exhibition, conflicts are quite often born within the team. This is even more likely, when there’s need to use outside help such as desing architects, as many of you have probably also noticed. We (Forum Marinum) have a good situation. We have plenty of skilled people, whom can also create the visual style for a display, which limits the rows and conflicts within ”the family”. It is common to bring out and focus on exhibitions to different kinds of phenomenoms, while the themes and points of view are carefully though out, especially in the nordic countries nowadays. In my opinion there is a danger of highlighting marginal matters and extreme phenomenoms too much. Naturally it’s important to discuss about these matters, but those shouldn’t brush aside the ”norm” or day-to-day matters. Equally important are the points of views, but those as well should be kept realistic. There is this certain risk of turning displays into ”headline exhibitions”, when discussing more extremist-phenomenoms. These lure the audience in and one gets more publicity, but the historical reality is forgotten. Then again, sometimes one may try to please the audience and contradictory points of views are left aside. One can show only very restricted amount of stories and matters in museum exhibitions, hence one needs to choose the point of view very carefully. This makes it challenging to find balance between the marginal and common points of view. Traditionally museums of war have approached wars and conflicts mainly through gear and weaponry. Often the handling of the subject starts from the upper level from showcasing the events of the war and presenting the stories of leaders and heroes. Quite often the displays have been more of an typological exhibition. This is the main risk of exhibitions, which have been made by either soldiers or warhistorians. Exhibitions on conflicts tend to always have an unavoidable nationalistic undertone even when it wasn’t the intent. The exhibition trend of bringing out the reality of day-to-day life in war and the stories of individual soldiers have gradually rosen. It wasn’t normal before to take a stand with an exhibition, but this has changed as well. I don’t believe that showing the battle or something corresponding to it is always important. Instead we should also discuss the time of war outside battle by following the old saying ” army is always in a hurry to wait”. We should bring out more of the larger impact of conflicts to society as well. I will show a few examples from museums and exhibitions, but I’m not evaluating them against each other, because all these displays have had their own, different starting points. And have a different way to display conflict and points of view. New permanent exhibition of Sotamuseo in Sveaborg () is a well-executed traditional display. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. The evolution of the Finnish Defence Forces and the wars Finland has fought are displayed in this exhibition. This is done by showing the gear and military equipment of both the finnish defece force and opposing side as well as bringing forward few persons and events. Any specific points of views have not been included to the display. I don’t believe there’s always a need to try and force in something extra, because that can also be a bad thing.

The Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg has a huge space for exhibitions. The amount of space available makes it possible for them to show the whole history of Russian navy, while it’s still possible to create smaller exhibition ensambles. There are only a few museums with the same possibilities within their reach. During this year of 2018 many exhibitions focusing on the events of Finnish civil war in 1918 have been opened. I found the exhibition ”The museum of liberty” of The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas interesting. Of course, in the whole history of the labour movement the civil war was only a part of the bigger picture. In the exhibition they clearly display this conflict from the point of view of the labour-class without hiding the grim side of executions and prisoner camps. For example the pictures of executions are openly on display in contrast to the exhibition of The National Museum, where you can use a small screen to view them. Yet, I don’t believe they are highlighting the matter too much. I found it rather refreshing to see an exhibition clearly made from its personal point of view and where the team didn’t need to even try to achieve a completely neutral stand. Then again an approach like this harbors the risk of bringing out nationalistic questions and over emphasizing them. I heard this happened when a new museum of Second World War was opened in Gdansk Poland. A very interesting example is Sea War museum Jutland in Thyborø in Denmark as the anti-war message is there noted down right next to the door. It may have been necessary to enable displaying the abundance of lifted material from German wrecks within the air of danish society. The exhibition has a modern touch. A massive amount of material from German ships sunken during battle is on the display. The reason for this is the way Great Britain regards its wrecks as graves and due that has forbidden tampering with them. There are books in the exhibition with the names of all the deceased and the exhibition brings out the stories of those whom died onboard these ships. The gun tower and a periscope of a German submarine U20, which sank the steam passengership s/s Lusitania, is one of the key elements of the exhibition. The event and the victims it claimed has been brought forward. In the exhibition there is on a display exceptionally a tower from a british submarine. It was found and believed by the group to be from a German submarine and raised from the bottom of the sea. The truth of the matter was later discovered and the response from the Royal British Navy was negative, but when they heard the idea behind the museum project, the use of the tower as a memorial to the men lost with the ship was approved. The overall impact of the sea war is also brought out, how the death of a navy soldier affected the family left behind. A black widows shirt worn by a widow of a deceased british navy soldies is on a display. I also know the Armémuseet has raised similar questions up in their exhibitions, but I haven’t unfortunately had the chance to visit there recently. An interesting exhibition of the Cold War was created in Marinmuseum in Karlskrona. It’s a very good example on how to approach a conflict, which didn’t reach the state of war. Clearly the time has been very significant and traumatic, and therefore its necessary to discuss about it. The ”air of fear” dominating the era was brought out well. The exhibition showed also on a larger scale the impacts to the society. A centerpiece of the exhibition was a Soviet Union Whiskey-class submarine S-363 (U137), which was wrecked in 1981 on the coast of in event known as ”Whiskey on the Rocks”. Event was described trough a videoinstallation, which featured soldiers and political figures relating to the event. Approach towards conflicts in main exhibition of Forum Marinum originates from people, because the whole theme of the display is work at sea. We have brought out few example persons in every part of the display. We chose not to show every conflict, but how defending seas of Finalnd has evolved trough the conflicts. For example by showcasing the battle of Rilax (Gangut) in 1714 and Peter the Great, whom made Russia into a leading maritime power. This development forced Sweden into developing its maritime defence by constructing archipelago fleet and to build Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) as its base. The Russo-Swedish war of Gustav III in 1788-1790 was the culmination of this development and The of 1808-1809 was where the archipelago fleet with its tactis were put to the test. We are showcasing Svensksund (Ruotsinsalmi) in our exhibition, because it has had a very large effect to the traditions of the Finnish Navy during independence. The date of the second sea battle of Svensksund is exactly the same as the anniversary date of the Finnish Navy, which is 9.7. We have lifted up boatman Anders Andersson Hurtig and the captain Viktor von Steding from fregat Spengtporten on this part, since we have the miniature model of the ship in the display. Fredat Sprengtporten took part in the battle of Hogland (Suursaari) in 1788 with a crew consisting of almost only of fins. Boatman Anders Anderssons fate was a common one for a navy soldier of the era. Anders Hurtig fell ill on Sprengtporten in august of 1788 and was moved to Sveaborg. It seems he died to the disease on march in 1790 in Åbo. On the other hand Viktor von Stedingk led the center of Swedish archipelago fleet in the battle of Svensksund. Later on he worked as the eskader commander of Åbo. He enacted also the first public memorial of the victory of the battle of Svensksund in Finland in Åbo. We chose our point of view differently in temporary exhibition ”Securing Shipping and Safeguarding Society – The Finnish Navy 100 Years”. Safeguarding sea traffic is a significant task through which we decided to approach the subject. The actions of the Navy in guarding traffic and security of supply of Finland are the focus of the questions we bring out. Especially the effects it has had to the functions of society is the point of view. Navy of Finland was actually established to enable sea traffic in 1918. To get commercial shipping going and the transportation of food possible to a country suffering from famine the first task was to clear the mines. This displays a way of surviving from a situation brought by conflict. 80-90% imports and exports of Finland travel by sea making Finland completely dependant on sea traffic. The importance guarding the commercial shipping fleets from submarine and aerial attacks was highlighted during the second world war. We are displaying these matters by displaying objects, which relate to the commercial convoys and prevention of submarines. We produced in co-operation with the comicbook club of Turku a comic ”Huoltovarmuuden huippujännite” as well, where the functions of convoys are shown in the style of old commando comic. Especially we have highlighted the rationing of different items in case of imports. One can spin a roulette, which displays the shortage of different items and the rationing of them, in the exhibition. Item packages and objects of the era as paperstring shoes are on the display. In my opinion for exhibitions discussing conflicts the surroundings and frameworks are very important. I have experienced that most impressive exhibitions have real connection to the events. Nearby Hango Frontmuseum one of the bunkers has been restored with a lot of original material on display and representation created with sound desing, for example. The experience is both immersive and effectively appeals to the feelings in this type of setting. Visual desing is used in many new exhibitions in tries to achieve same kind of athmosphere. Katriina Siivonen PhD, University Lecturer, Adjunct Professor, Vice Director Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku Futures of Representations of Conflicts in Museums Everyday culture and traditions has an implicit transformative power. In museum collections we have pieces of these traditions defined as cultural heritage. As a part of activities of museums, intangible and tangible cultural heritage could serve as explicit transformative power and promote positive change in the society. Intangible cultural heritage is living actions, skills and thoughts of human beings. In the current era of globalization, the strengthening position of intangible heritage will change dramatically different heritage processes in the society and in museums. More than ever, work with heritage requires co- work with communities and museum visitors. It is relevant to ask what are the possibilities of museums to co-create alternative, peaceful futures on the base of traditions and cultural heritage concerning conflicts in cooperation with neighbouring communities of museums and museum visitors, and what kind of impacts does these processes have to individual human beings, communities, society, museums, and cultural heritage. I will define the combination of cultural heritage and futures processes in the concept of heritage futures. Heritage futures are connected to current global problems with all their tensions. From the perspective of talking about conflicts in museums in the future, it is important to talk about a process of presentations, not about different contesting representations of conflicts.

Marcus Lepola Project Researcher The significance of the Battles of Svensksund Two separate sea battles between the Russian and Swedish fleets took place at Svensksund during the war of Gustavus III. The site of the battles is now a busy shipping lane outside the modern city of Kotka. The first battle of 1789 was a Russian victory, the following year the Swedish fleet was victorious and was able to deliver a crippling blow to the Russian army fleet. In Sweden this victory has been perceived as a reinstatement of Swedish military prowess and the successful development of the archipelago fleet. The victory at Svensksund provided Gustav III with an opportunity to reach agreeable peace terms with Russia and an end to a conflict which proved to be costly in both lives lost and money spent.

Swedish historians such as Jan Glete, have pointed that the way this time period has been represented in histories has been outdated. In his work from 1992, Glete pointed out in several shortcomings in both the lack of a holistic view and international perspective regarding the late 18th century history of Swedish naval operations. It is the purpose of this presentation to bring forward different perspectives in the way we perceive the sea battles of Svensksund as an attempt to provide a more varied holistic of a historic conflict to a contemporary museum audience.

Notes, discussions and thoughts from the conference by Marcus Lepola

There was ample possibility to discuss and network in different matters pertaining to the project at hand. There was some criticism raised of the goals of the project, especially regarding the way the Battles at Svensksund should be portrayed. It was noted that a simple victory and trophy oriented simplified presentation of the events at Svensksund is not the aim of this project. Some clarification as to the role of the project “Kadonnut Ruotsinsalmi” (Fin.), Svensksund AD 1790 in relation to the exhibition work is also necessary. The work done at the Maritime Centre Vellamo in Kotka in preparation for the exhibit in 2020 involves the combined efforts of staff, volunteers and associates at the Kymenlaakso museum and The Maritime Museum of Finland. All of the work is centred around the Ruotsinsalmi – Svensksund Heritage Site. The site represents the 1789 & 1790 Sea Battles of Svensksund as well as the later Russian built coastal fortifications referred to as the Suvorov Fortress. The work is divided in to several different entities and projects within the Maritime Centre Vellamo. The Svensksund AD 1790 –project is administered by The Maritime Museum of Finland and supports the networking between maritime-, naval- and war museums in Sweden and Russia. The project is also the outgoing, informative part of the exhibition work. The study and research of the maritime history heritage at the site is also included in the goals of the Svensksund AD 1790 – project. The exhibit will include information about the wrecks at Svensksund as well as the objects retrieved from the wreckage. It is paramount that the findings at the wrecks are correctly identified so they can contribute to our understanding of these past events. Moreover, the theme of the exhibit allows for interesting depictions of life on board the army fleet, both from the Russian as well as from the Swedish perspective. Personal histories and personal perspectives will enrichen the dramatic story and provide a more tangible experience of the battles. The Battles of Svensksund as well as the war of 1788–1790 will be viewed from a critical standpoint. War does not limit itself to the battleground and the conflict had a wider impact than previously thought. The disease that ravaged the army and the fleet also spread to towns and villages in Finland and Sweden causing loss of human life. The wrecks laying underneath the surface of the sea at Ruotsinsalmi will be presented to the audience through audio-visual technology. Stefan Wessman discussed the complexity of challenges and potential problems relating to heritage sites with a background in conflict, in the first presentation of the conference. The need for multiple perspectives to present a difficult issue are paramount. Future

Next few months the focus of this project will be objects and possible personal narratives connected with the artefacts. The question of possibly doing a study or a paper regarding late 18th century military and naval collections in museums was also raised and this question will be addressed at a later event. The tentative schedule for the following conference is in early spring 2019. The theme of the conference is not yet decided but it seems very possible that there should be more focus on object study and/or maritime archaeology. More information as we progress with the planning work will be provided to all the museums included in our e-mail list.