M/S Baltic Queers – Experiences of LGBTQAI+ Migration

Why have people belonging to sexual and gender minorities moved from one country to another? Where does the Baltic Sea unite and where does it divide? These questions will be explored in the City Museum’s new exhibition M/S Baltic Queers – Experiences of LGBTQAI+ Migration, which opens on 15 November. It highlights the diverse life experiences of people who have emigrated from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and the Baltic states.

The exhibition is based on dozens of interviews with expatriates and returnees. The experiences collected range from the 1960s to the present-day reality in the Baltic Sea region. The journey towards a freer atmosphere begins in the terminal, where the departure stories of four immigrants are on display, read by actors, along with material related to their departure and migration. From there, the exhibition goes on to explore love, friendship, activism, identity building and gay tourism. You can explore the theme in more depth through content such as videos, photographs and letters written by private persons.

The exhibition features a sound installation, Looking for Love, composed by producer Minna Koivisto and saxophonist Linda Fredriksson, inspired by the personal ads collected for the exhibition. Estonian artist Jaanus Samma’s installation Riga Postcards is inspired by the diaries of Latvian artist Kaspars Irbe (1906–1996), which chronicle the life of a gay man in Latvia in different decades. These diaries also form the basis of Latvian designer Rūta Jumīte’s installation about Irbe’s trip to Leningrad in 1968. The exhibition also features drawings from the graphic novel Homo Line by the Finland-Swedish artist Edith Hammar.

The exhibition is curated by non-fiction author and journalist Antti Järvi and visual artist Kalle Hamm. The exhibition designer is Kristian Palmu, with Nina Andelin as the graphic designer and Eero Salmio as the producer. The exhibition has received funding from the Kone Foundation and the Nordic Culture Point.

M/S Baltic Queers – Experiences of LGBTQAI+ Migration 15 November 2024 – 2 March 2025 Helsinki City Museum, 4th floor Aleksanterinkatu 16 Free entry Open: Mon–Fri 11:00–19:00 and Sat–Sun 11:00–17:00

Photos: Sami Saastamoinen / Helsinki City Museum

Intergenerational meeting place: Crush[ing] performance & reminiscing workshop Sat 16 Nov at 13:00–15:00 | free entry

Curator tour of the exhibition (in Finnish) Sat 16 Nov at 15:00–16:00 | free entry

Queer History Walking Tour (in Finnish) Tue 19 Nov & Tue 26 Nov at 17:00–18.30 | Tickets 11 €

Intergenerational meeting place: sing-alongs and encounters Sat 7 Dec at 13:00–15:00 | free entry

Valentine’s Day disco & Out of Sync Fri 14 Feb 2025 at 17:00–19:00 | free entry