From the digital material provided by the museum, object, photo and drawing materials that can be found in the domestic Finna service (

Founded on 14 December 1888 under the name of the State Museum of Crafts and initially operating under the auspices of the Finnish Association of the Arts and Crafts, the Craft Museum on Finland and the formation of its collections have been guided at different times by the values and attitudes of the era. You can read a summary of the different phases of the museum on its own page.

The crafts businesses and organizations collection is a history of both Finland’s major artisan companies and organizations as well as more minor actors. The records from machine-assisted handicrafts industry focus on product design, while those from larger companies emphasize small-scale series production. Records of the history and activities of associations join those documenting the experiences of small businesses in the creative field as well as those of the evolution of education in crafts.

The collection of interior textiles in the Craft Museum of Finland is very broad in its scope, containing both traditional and modern domestic textiles from rural and urban settings alike. The oldest objects date from the 18th century, the newest from the 2000s. The collection contains materials from private individuals, museums, as well as crafts schools and organizations including Helmi Vuorelma Oy, the Friends of Finnish Handicraft, Ryijypalvelu Oy, Neovius Oy, The Kuopio Region Crafts Organization Taito Savo, and the Kiikka carpet weaving workshop.

The crafts education collection at the Craft Museum of Finland includes materials illuminating the history and practices of education in the craft hobby, school crafts taught in elementary schools, as well as vocational education in crafts organized by various providers. The field of crafts education is broad, as there have been a large number of schools providing crafts education, not to even mention associations and organizations that have engaged in courses or informational activities. 

The old foreign materials derived from the collections of the State Home Industry Museum have been complemented by more recent international items. In both cases, some of the objects are donations from travellers interested in preserving cultural heritage. Some of these contributions also include archival and photographic material that complement the objects themselves. 

The material and tool collections comprise data on more than 11,000 objects classified into categories. They make up about 25% of the museum’s entire collection. 

The professional crafts collections are a presentation of broad themes of professional arts and crafts, with foundations in the Craft Museum of Finland’s field work and active contemporary documentation activities since 1984. The collection is mainly focused on private practitioners and entrepreneurship. In-depth materials entered into the collection include interviews, objects, photographs, and videos. 

Handicraft objects and collections related to handiwork can be found in several museums in our country, but the Craft Museum of Finland is the only one that focuses solely on the themes and subject areas of handiwork.