Thank you for your comments to my previous post, which inspired me to write this one.
Although population-wise we're small, area-wise we're the 8th largest country in Europe (out of 51 countries). Therefore, small miniature fairs, often organized by either miniature enthusiasts or local miniature clubs, take place approximately monthly in different parts of the country throughout the year. What's more, miniature businesses often exhibit and sell their items in connection with a couple of major craft, design, and hobby fairs, like the Craft & Design Fair in Tampere (178 km north of Helsinki) and "Handy & To Do" in Lahti (112 km north of Helsinki). The links are not sponsored.
The main source of event information, sometimes also of global fairs and happenings, is included in the Finnish Doll's House Magazine, published five times a year by the Finnish Doll's House Association. Want to take a peek at our mag of February of this year?.
I became interested in miniatures twenty years ago. There were no shops, online or brick and mortar, specializing in miniatures; only hobby shops. Most miniatures were ordered from abroad or made by ourselves. There was only one book about doll's houses in Finnish by Vivienne Boulton, translated from English (nothing wrong with translating books, though!), and also the association was taking small steps forward.
Twenty years later the miniature scene is completely different. There are at least six miniature shops in the country and tens of books written in Finnish - I have 12. Books in one's native tongue are important; not everyone has in-depth knowledge of a foreign language, not even of English, the lingua franca of today. Despite online translating tools, some of the translations into a non-Indo-European language, like Finnish, can be somewhat odd.
Currently, the association is thriving by not only publishing the magazine but organizing events and courses, and running campaigns. This has happened thanks to an ever-growing number of very active miniature enthusiasts who have been - and still are - working mostly voluntarily. All for the love of miniatures!
2 comments:
This was great to learn! Thank you! It is wonderful that minis are becoming so popular in Finland! No wonder it keeps getting voted as one of the best places to live!
Thank you so much for this post. I loved looking at your February magazine which was loaded with interesting articles.
Despite our efforts, nothing has changed during the last 20 years in my country. We have quite a few super talented miniaturists who give classes and workshops, nevertheless, no shops that I know about have been opened to sell special dollhouse craft materials. We still have to purchase online or shop while we travel overseas.
Finnish miniaturists are to be admired for their volunteer work. Publishing the magazine in Finnish is probably the cause of increasing the interest in the hobby.
Hugs, Drora
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