Open Doors at Bank of Finland in autumn 2022: A meeting of culture, history and people

The Bank of Finland will stage an Open Doors event for the general public at its main building from 29 September to 1 October 2022. This three-day event will be open from 14:00 to 20:00 on Thursday and Friday 29–30 September, and from 11:00 to 17:00 on Saturday 1 October. To enter, you will need to join the queue at the main door, and the last entry will be one hour before closing. The address of the Bank of Finland is Snellmaninaukio, 00101 Helsinki.

“The COVID-19 pandemic kept many doors shut. So we are very pleased to be able to open the doors of the Bank of Finland’s historic main building to the public this autumn, and to organise an event where culture, history and people are brought together,” says Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn.

The centrepiece will be an art exhibition within the Bank’s main building, which was completed in 1883. The exhibition will provide an inspiring overview of the contents of the Bank’s substantial art collection, which contains some 1,200 artworks. Bank of Finland staff members acting as volunteer guides will be on hand to explain more about the artworks displayed. The artworks include familiar classics such as Juho Rissanen’s stained-glass windows and Lennart Segerstråle’s unique Finlandia frescos. The exhibition will also feature a collection of portraits of Bank of Finland governors from the period since Finland’s independence. An important principle followed by the Bank has been to support the work of living artists. Each year, the Bank acquires several works by Finnish artists or artists working in Finland. The latest acquisitions on display will include works from Samuli Heimonen, Heidi Lampenius and Osmo Rauhala.

Besides the artworks, the Bank of Finland will also be presenting material on the theme of ‘money and payments’. The twentieth anniversary of euro coins and banknotes was celebrated at the start of 2022, and so the material will include information on the euro’s history. It will also feature information on electronic payment channels, mobile payment, crypto-assets and central bank digital currencies. Exhibition stands will show banknotes and also invite you to ponder what the world would be like without cash.

Amid the works of art, experts from the Bank will present briefings on topical economic and monetary policy matters. These will include a look at cyber security and how you can protect yourself from online phishing and scams.

The Bank of Finland Museum will also play a role in the Open Doors event, offering guided insights on the Bank’s activities, the history of money, monetary policy, banknote art and financial literacy. Visitors will be free to look around the Museum independently as well.

The Open Doors event is staged every few years, the last one being in May 2018.

There is also information in the online gallery at kansakunnanomaisuutta.fi concerning the Bank of Finland’s art collection and the history of the Bank’s main building.

For further information, please contact:

Communications Specialist Katri Heikkinen, tel. +358 9 183 2655, katri.heikkinen@bof.fi

Chair of Bank of Finland art club Jukka Valle, tel. +358 9 183 2617, jukka.valle@bof.fi

https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/bank-of-finland/avoimet-ovet/