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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: FINLAND LENIN MUSEUM
HEADLINE: Finland’s Lenin Museum closing as Russia relations chill
TEASER: Curator says it’s the most hated museum in the country and funding is hard to get
PUBLISHED AT: 06/12/2024 at 9AM
BYLINE: Henry Wilkins
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Tampere, Finland
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Wilkins
VIDEO EDITOR: Henry Wilkins
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Luis Ramirez
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, pcd, SB trimmed
VIDEO SOURCE: VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:16
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TV/R
EDITOR NOTES: FOR PRODUCTION TUESDAY; MUSEUM WEBSITE IS https://www.lenin.fi/en/))
((INTRO))
[[Finland’s Lenin Museum, the “most hated" in the country according to its director, is to close its doors at the end of the year for rebranding, as Finland’s historically good relations with Russia sour. Henry Wilkins visited the museum in the Finnish city of Tampere ((PRON: TAHM-peh-ray)) and has that story.]]
((NARRATOR))
Kalle Kallio, the director of Finland’s Lenin Museum, has called it the most hated museum in the country. It’s in the city of Tampere, in the building where some say Soviet dictators Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin met for the first time in 1905.
The museum references the forced labor camps and mass killings in the Soviet Union, but it also aims to poke fun at dictators.
Kallio says the museum took this approach largely due to visitor surveys.
((Kalle Kallio, Lenin Museum Director - MALE in English, 30 secs))
“The most wanted thing was Soviet humor, so they wanted the museum to be fun. Because, of course, there are many things with the Soviet Union to laugh at.”
((NARRATOR))
He says Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sobered people’s views.
((Kalle Kallio, Lenin Museum Director - MALE in English, 30 secs))
We had a question about, “Did you feel the museum was funny?” The interesting thing is that when the war in Ukraine started in ‘22, that’s the question where the figures went down. People didn’t see it as funny anymore.”
((NARRATOR))
Amusement turned to anger among critics who say the museum seeks to glorify not only Lenin but Russian imperialism.
Vitaliy Zabolotskyy is the chairman of Ukrainians of Tampere, a local community group.
((Vitaliy Zabolotskyy, Ukrainians of Tampere - MALE in English, 13 secs))
“Seeing this museum here glorifying what is essentially the Russian legacy, it’s disgusting given the heritage of the Soviets in Ukraine. I just couldn't understand why would you do that.”
((NARRATOR))
In April, the museum announced it would close its doors for a rebrand that would include changing its name and shifting its focus to Russia-Finland relations rather than Lenin.
Kallio says it proved difficult to get funding.
Finland and Russia share a 1,300-kilometer border and maintained mostly good relations, even during the Cold War. That changed with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
((Nats, tank firing))
Finland joined NATO as public attitudes shifted over concerns about Russian expansionism.
Most of the museum’s visitors are from Finland, but Kallio says the occasional visitor from a former Soviet country has often taken a strongly negative view of the museum.
((Kalle Kallio, Lenin Museum Director - MALE in English, 13 secs))
“It’s much more complicated to have that humorous perspective on Soviet heritage like we from Western countries can have or even Russians can have.”
((NARRATOR))
Zabolotskyy says he is cautiously optimistic about the museum’s rebrand.
((Vitaliy Zabolotskyy, Ukrainians of Tampere MALE in English, 19 secs)))
“When you talk about Nazis, you talk about the Holocaust. You talk about all the camps, and I would very much like to see the same format here, but let’s see how it goes. I’m really looking forward to [seeing] that.”
((NARRATOR))
Kallio tells VOA the new museum will reflect the downturn in Finland-Russia relations and take on a more serious tone.
That which appeared safely consigned to history, for many in Finland, feels uncomfortably close again.
((Henry Wilkins, VOA News, Tampere, Finland))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
