Poisonous animals and Pikku Kakkonen celebrations at Vapriikki

In February, the Museum Centre will also host the Nature Photographs of the Year 2026 exhibition, followed in May by a special exhibition celebrating Pikku Kakkonen. At the end of the year, the Tampere Mineral Museum – a long-standing favourite with the public – will open its doors, showcasing its unique collection extensively in a new exhibition space.

Poison! 4 February–7 November 2027

Why are there so many poisonous animals and plants in nature? What is poison, and can it also heal? These questions will be answered by the Natural History Museum’s special exhibition Poison!, which opens on 4 February 2027 in Vapriikki’s Great Hall and brings live animals to the museum centre for the first time. The aim of the exhibition is to increase understanding of poisonous animals and dispel unfounded fears associated with them.

The exhibition introduces visitors to the world’s most venomous animals and their astonishing survival strategies. On display are nearly 30 animal species, including the Gabon viper, the rattlesnake, the Gila monster, the black widow spider and the poison dart frog. The exhibition takes a multidisciplinary approach to natural poisons, examining them from the perspectives of biology, chemistry and medicine, as well as within the context of human history. It explains how people have utilised poisons throughout history in hunting, traditional beliefs, medicine and scientific research. Medicines have indeed been developed from reptile venoms for the treatment of conditions such as diabetes and cancer. ‘Venom!’ challenges visitors to reflect on common misconceptions about venomous animals and their importance to biodiversity.  

All the animals in the exhibition meet the requirements of the international CITES Convention (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The animals were born in licensed zoos as part of international breeding programmes, and none of them have been captured from the wild. Particular attention has been paid to the safety of the exhibition and the welfare of the animals. The animal keepers working on the exhibition are responsible for the animals’ care and welfare throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Poison! is an exhibition produced in collaboration between the Spanish organisation Nabau Projects – Grupo Atrox and the Museum Centre Vapriikki. 

Pikku Kakkonen anniversary exhibition from 6 May 2027

This major exhibition, opening at Vapriikki, celebrates Pikku Kakkonen, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2027. The much-loved children’s programme brings generations together and evokes childhood memories. At Vapriikki’s anniversary exhibition, you’ll get to meet your favourite childhood characters, as the exhibition features the Karvakuonot, Pelle Hermann, Rölli, Katti Matikainen and even Morson. The extensive collection has been gathered from the archives and storerooms of the Pikku Kakkonen editorial team.  

This heart-warming exhibition is aimed at all ages. The youngest visitors are invited to take a spin in Malt and Valt’s pedal car, and all children can play in the studio’s familiar, colourful set. Bedtime stories can be listened to in a cosy little nook. The characters who have featured in Pikku Kakkonen take a look back across a timeline spanning several decades, and visitors can pause at various viewing points to watch both older and more recent programmes.  

The exhibition will be on display on the second storey of Vapriikki for around two years. It is organised in collaboration with YLE’s Pikku Kakkonen.  

Mineral Museum 4 November 2027

In November 2027, Vapriikki will open a larger, more spectacular and more immersive Mineral Museum, showcasing the Tampere Mineral Museum’s collection in all its splendour. The new permanent exhibition will be housed in the large exhibition space in Vapriikki’s basement, where a treasure trove filled with colourful minerals, magnificent gemstones and fascinating fossils will be created.

The Mineral Museum’s collection is the largest collection of stones assembled by a private individual in Finland. Its treasures include a wide variety of minerals and gemstones, as well as spectacular natural formations and fossils that preserve traces of ancient life. At the Mineral Museum, you can discover everything from the most famous gemstones and unusual minerals to fossils and meteorites from space.  

The new exhibition will also feature the public’s favourite stones, as well as the amethyst cave and hands-on stones that have previously delighted visitors. Much-requested Finnish stones will also be on display. The exhibition will include more interactive rock-themed content and brand-new ‘mystery stones’.  

The Tampere Natural History Museum’s themed exhibitions

The Tampere Natural History Museum’s small themed exhibitions offer diverse perspectives on nature, the relationship between humans and nature, and the significance of nature in our everyday lives. The exhibitions are on display in the Canal Gallery on the first floor of Vapriikki.

Nature Photographs of the Year 2026 12 February–11 April 2027 As usual, the category winners of the Nature Photograph of the Year competition, along with other award-winning photographs, will be on display at Vapriikki this spring. The winning photograph of the 46th competition was a shot taken by Reijo Helaakoski at a decisive moment, depicting a flying wasp with an admiral butterfly in the background. The Nature Photograph of the Year, the category winners and 30 other award-winning photographs from the competition will form the ‘Nature Photographs of the Year 2026’ exhibition, which will tour Finland over the coming year.

Forest Rights 22 April–15 August 2027

Everyman’s rights have a long history in Finland, and these Finnish freedoms and obligations have become second nature. The Forest Rights exhibition offers perspectives on these everyman’s rights, which are unique on a global scale, and sheds light on their current status through the lens of research and art.  The works in the exhibition explore the limits and possibilities of everyman’s rights through everyday experiences, conflicts and legal cases.  

The exhibition forms part of the University of Tampere’s Forest Rights project, which is funded by the Kone Foundation through its ‘On the Side of the Forest’ initiative. The research project is led by Professor Päivi Kymäläinen, and its other members are visual artist Kirsi Jaakkola, Professor Nick Blomley and Postdoctoral Researcher Rebecca Frilund.  

Pollinator Diversity10 September 2027–30 January 2028 Combining science and art and aimed at all ages, the exhibition Pollinator Diversity offers visitors fascinating facts, stunning images and fun, interactive activities. The informative texts are complemented by poems that introduce the exhibition’s themes, opening up the world of pollinators on an emotional level.  

The exhibition is based on the illustrated children’s non-fiction book Pollinator Diversity by Mia Rönkä and Janne Toriseva.

Delve into the history of Tampere

Sanctuary in wartime: The Tampere cathedral refugees of 1918

The fifth virtual exhibition produced by the Vapriikki Museum Centre for the Tampere 1918 Civil War Museum – which operates exclusively online – was launched on 26 October 2026. The exhibition explores what it felt like to leave one’s home in the midst of fighting and seek safety behind the stone walls of the cathedral. Sanctuary in wartime: The Tampere cathedral refugees of 1918 explores the experiences and lives of refugees during the Finnish Civil War, specifically during the battles of Tampere. An estimated 1,500–2,000 people, mainly women, children and the elderly, sought refuge within the stone walls of Tampere Cathedral – known as St John’s Church – for several weeks.

The exhibition’s virtual environment is the cathedral’s nave, meticulously modelled in 3D by Vapriikki. In the 360-degree view, visitors can explore the historic space and learn about the refugees’ experiences through dramatised videos. The performers in the videos are volunteers and young amateur theatre enthusiasts from the Pikkuteatteri theatre group in Kangasala, Pirkanmaa. Vapriikki’s own staff also feature prominently in various roles.  

Sanctuary in wartime: The Tampere cathedral refugees of 1918 is part of the EU-funded x-CITE project. The exhibition is freely available in Finnish and English in the virtual museum. 

A Bygone World – Tampere in the Early 20th Century publication

In November 2026, the content of the popular exhibition A Bygone World – Tampere in the Early 20th Century’ will be published in a single volume. The book reveals what the city looked like – with its streets, market squares, buildings and factories – during the couple of decades leading up to Finland’s independence. The book presents Tampere by neighbourhood, describing their settings and residents. It tells the story of the City of Tampere, which grew and changed, yet retained its own character and history.  

A Bygone World is not merely an exhibition catalogue, as its 450 pages allow the subject to be explored even more extensively than in the exhibition. Some of the historical photographs featured in this richly illustrated book have only been discovered in recent years and have not been published before.

The publication will go on sale at the Vapriikki museum shop at the end of November.

Further information:

Exhibition Manager Maj Meriluoto, tel. 040 732 3745. Tomi Kumpulainen, Curator of the Natural History Museum, tel. 040 801 6614; researchers Outi Penninkangas, tel. 050 341 3262, Antti Hannunen, tel. 040 801 6350, and Antti Liuttunen, tel. 040 8007600.