The Ostrobothnian Museum Collections
The collections of the Ostrobothnian Museum are divided into four areas: art, cultural history, natural science, and the archive and library.
The Ostrobothnian Museum collects and preserves material and visual expressions of cultural heritage within its area of focus – Ostrobothnia and the City of Vaasa – as well as material related to the natural environment of the area. The collections continue to grow according to our policy, by means of purchases and donations. Donations can be accepted provided they fulfil the criteria of the collection policy. For further information, please go to Donations.
Cultural heritage and management of the collections
One of the museum’s most important tasks is to preserve culturally valuable objects and information about them for coming generations. Most of the museum’s artefacts and artworks are kept in the museum’s storage rooms and information about them is catalogued in the museum’s electronic databases.
The range of material related to cultural heritage is very extensive and can comprise ordinary everyday utensils as well as impressive artworks. It is possible for an object to be very valuable from a museum and cultural history perspective without being particularly old or economically valuable. What is important is that the item represents its own time, environment and social context.
The museum value of an object increases significantly if its provenance is known, that is, if it is known who made the item, how it has been used and who has owned it. The more information that is available about the object, the more it can reveal about its time and history, which means the museum can also better make use of it in its exhibitions, publications and research work.
Exhibitions relating to the collections
The natural science collections at the museum consist of flora, fauna and minerals. The museum’s permanent natural science exhibition, Terranova, presents natural history items belonging to the museum.
You can learn more about art and cultural-historical items and furniture on the Hedman Floor, and in the Memorial Hall, the Silver Room and the Coin Cabinet.
The Vaasa 400 exhibition presents cultural-historical artefacts from Vaasa and showcases the city’s history and folk culture.