ESPOO MAGAZINE 3/2017

COLLECTINGS
Welcome to
new residents!
ESPOO’S CULTURAL service providers acknowledge
Espoo residents who received their Finnish
citizenship in 2016 in the form of diverse cultural
benefits from 1 September 2017 to 31 May 2018.
The goal is to make the cultural services on offer
familiar to the residents of Espoo and to welcome
all new citizens to Espoo. New citizens have the
opportunity to visit museums, enjoy concerts,
watch films and take part in different events and
workshops.
In addition to the City of Espoo’s own cultural
services, cultural houses and centres, the active
parties include the Gallen-Kallela Museum, the
Helinä Rautavaara Museum, Espoo City Theatre,
the Glims & Gloms dance company, Hevosenkenkä
Theatre, Espoo Ciné, JuuriJuhla-RotFest
and the Tapiola Choir. The benefits range from
free tickets to reduced prices. This is a pilot project.
The continuation of the project will be assessed
later.
In 2016, approximately 730 Espoo residents
received Finnish citizenship. The majority of
them spoke some Finnish. The most common
mother tongues included Russian, Somali, English
and Arabic.
Autumn
Sonata by
Ingmar Bergman
Espoo City
Theatre,
opening night
14 February
2018.
FROM THE ANNALS OF HISTORY
A journey through time to a Finnish elementary school
MUSICIANS OF THE MUSIC OF FINLAND EVENTS
ALUMNI OF THE ESPOO MUSIC INSTITUTE
THE CENTENARY of Finland marked in Shanghai
and the surrounding cities on 6–18 November.
The Sibelius China Society, established in June
by the Sibelius Society of Finland and the China
Symphony Development Foundation,
was celebrated at the same
time. The society strengthens the
cultural collaboration and student
exchange between the two countries
in the field of classical music. The China
Symphony Development Foundation’s members
include all 73 symphony orchestras of China.
Music of Finland is part of the esteemed
Shanghai International Arts Festival. The event includes
nine Finnish music concerts, lectures and
piano master courses at the Shanghai Conservatory
of Music and the Ningbo International Institute.
The concerts include piano and chamber
music pieces by Sibelius performed by
Folke Gräsbeck, Jan-Paul, Jonathan
and Rebecca Roozeman as well as
Jamin and Jason Hu.
The young musicians from the
two families started their studies at the Espoo
Music Institute. In 2014, they toured China with
the Tapiola Youth Symphony Orchestra. The
President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, is the patron
of the Music of Finland event.
HOUSING COUNSELLORS TO HELP WITH HOUSING PROBLEMS
ESPOO’S NEW housing counselling service helps
residents with housing problems. A resident or a
relative may contact a housing counsellor, for instance,
in case of problems with paying the rent,
rent debt situations or neighbourhood trouble.
The housing counselling service provides information
about seeking support and benefits and
guidance at the start of the tenancy.
Housing counsellors organise housing
search information events once a
month around Espoo. The housing
search information events provide
THE FESTIVAL
INCLUDES NINE
CONCERTS OF
FINNISH MUSIC.
information regarding housing searches, housing
providers and rental housing and assist with
housing applications as much as possible. You
can register for the information events directly
through the housing counsellors. The telephone
service lines are open on weekdays from 8 am to 2
pm. The housing counsellors use
a call-back service and they
09 816 34455
South Espoo
post code areas:
02100-02380 ja 02780
09 816 34456
North Espoo
post code areas:
02600-02680,
02700-02770, 02810-
02980, 00370
aim to call back during the
same day.
THE DECREE on elementary education of
1866 obligated municipalities to establish
and maintain elementary schools. At the
same time, however, years of failed crops
and great famine caused delay to the
building work. Espoo’s first municipal elementary
school, Lagstads folkskola, was
completed for the autumn 1873. Before
that, school was already held in different
places, such as manor houses. It was in
use as a school until the end of the spring
term of 1954 when a new school building
was completed.
The Premises Department of the
City of Espoo @tilapalvelut has
published on its Twitter account
pictures of buildings in Espoo that
are over 100 years old. Pictures
with the hashtag #Suomi100 tell
the story of Espoo’s history and
development from a rural municipality
to a continually growing city.
A school museum has been in the plans of
the City of Espoo since the 1960s. For many
years, Espoo City Museum has been gathering
school-related artefacts and materials
for its collections.
In 1999, Esbo hembygdsförening agreed a
long-term lease agreement with the City of
Espoo. In cooperation with the city, the association
repaired the building in a discreet
way and Lagstad hembygdsgård was inaugurated
in 2002. The following year, the Lagstad
school museum was opened in a former
classroom on the building’s second floor.
Espoo City Museum’s exhibition Kansa
koulussa (At Elementary School) continues
now also in a building that was a former
teacher’s quarters. There it is possible under
the supervision of a guide to get familiar
with, for example, writing with a dip pen or
a fountain pen, counting with an abacus or
writing with a chalk slate. The exhibition is
a fascinating journey through the history of
Espoo’s elementary schools, from the establishment
of the first municipal elementary
school to the present day.
6