Estonian museums open hidden collections for Curiosity Day

Museums across Estonia will open their collections and storage rooms to visitors on November 14 and 15 for Curiosity Day, offering a look at work usually kept behind exhibition-hall doors, ERR reports.

The programme, organised by the Estonian Museums Association, includes a chance to explore zoological collections at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum, including a rare preserved rat king. Tartu City Museum will present objects found during archaeological research at the Siuru cultural centre, including the conservation of a wooden barrel.

At the Johannes and Joosep Aavik House Museum in Kuressaare, visitors can see original cover designs for Johannes Aavik’s horror stories. Tallinn Photo Museum will focus on historic cameras and how their mechanisms work, while the Estonian Bicycle Museum will show the inner workings of mechanical gramophones.

“An object in a museum collection does not tell its own story,” said Anu Viltrop, director of the Estonian Museums Association. She said research can turn an old photograph into knowledge about a local community or help people better understand those who lived in the past. The event will show how such knowledge is created and why museums need time, staff and funding to study their collections, she said.

Viltrop said museums need suitable storage facilities and skilled staff to preserve heritage for future generations. Delaying conservation decisions risks the irreversible loss of heritage and the chance to understand the past through it, she said, urging decision-makers to visit museum storage rooms and see what collections require.

Curiosity Day was initiated by President Alar Karis and was first marked in Estonia on November 17, 2022. Its aim is to value curiosity as a basis for lifelong learning and encourage people of all ages to gain and share knowledge and skills.