InterActive History project for museums in Finland and Karelia
InterActive History, a joint Russian-Finnish project, started in October 2018 within the framework of the Karelia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme. The project brings together six museums on both sides of the border and is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Karelia. The lead partner of the project is the Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism Development Fund.
In the course of the project experts from the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia, the Kurkijoki Local History Center, the Olonets National Museum of Southern Karelians, the North Karelian Museum in Joensuu, the Outokumpu Mining Museum and the Ilomantsi Museum foundation will create and introduce new integrated museum services based on the study and interpretation of cultural and historic heritage.
The project deals with monuments and sites that have been completely or partially lost or have undergone significant changes, also in terms of their original function. Among them are the former fortress of the XVII-XVIII centuries in Olonets, the historic Utra area in Joensuu, the architectural ensemble of the Round square of the XVIII-XIX centuries (Lenin sq. nowadays) in Petrozavodsk, the former copper smelting plant of the XIX-XX centuries in Outokumpu, the Middle Ages "hill-fort" in Kurkijoki, as well as the rune-singing traditions of the historic Karelian villages in the Ilomantsi area.
Apart from providing the selected monuments and sites with information signs and creating new thematic hands-on and brain-on museum exhibitions, special mobile applications integrating augmented reality, virtual reconstruction and game-based methods will be developed for a more complete presentation of heritage sites.
The project is aimed primarily at attracting attention and interest of young people to local history and culture, as well as at involving the local community in the preservation and promotion of heritage.
The Karelia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme is funded by the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland.
