Image: Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki
The Architecture & Design Museum in Helsinki is preparing a watercolor workshop that draws on Tove Jansson’s drawings and the world of the Moomins. Scheduled for Saturday, August 8, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the workshop is presented as an “Iltapäivähetki piirustussalongissa” session focused on watercolor painting, with stories from the Moomins and tea served alongside the activity.
According to the museum’s materials, the session invites participants to explore watercolor techniques over the course of an hour-long creative exercise, while listening to Moomin stories and working in a relaxed setting. The museum says the workshop is suitable for participants attending alone or with a companion, and that it is designed as a calming creative afternoon rather than a formal class. Participants are also told they will be able to take their finished work home.
The museum frames the workshop as part of a wider summer program tied to the exhibition 'Pako Muumilaaksoon', which examines Tove Jansson’s and the Moomins’ relationship to architecture, the built environment and design. The exhibition page states that it looks at that relationship “in an unprecedented way” and encourages visitors to think about space, home and community in the Moomin world. Workshop participants may visit the museum’s exhibitions before or after the session with their workshop ticket.
The linked newsletter note says the workshop takes inspiration from Jansson’s remarkable and imaginative drawings, which also illustrate the Moomin books. It identifies watercolor as the summer workshop technique and notes that the workshops are held at roughly two-week intervals on Saturdays. The newsletter also says the workshop includes materials, instruction, coffee and tea, as well as museum admission.
The museum’s event listing places the workshop at its Helsinki venue, with the location given simply as the museum itself. The price is listed as 49 euros. Participants are asked to reserve in advance, and the museum advises dressing for the weather. The event page also states that the ticket includes materials, instruction, coffee and tea, and entry to the museum.
Separate listings in the same museum newsletter show that visitors can also encounter the Moomin presence in the exhibition area on the same day. The character Muumipeikko is scheduled to appear in 'Pako Muumilaaksoon' three times on Saturday, August 8, and a family tour connected to the exhibition is also listed for the afternoon. The museum is currently operating from Korkeavuorenkatu 23 in Helsinki while construction work continues outside the building, with the main entrance and accessible rear entrance in use.
