The exhibition has opened!
And finally the Poster Hunters can say … Welcome to our brand new show!
Our new travel poster exhibition lets you experience how early tourists were drawn to travel to and around the Nordic region, by way of steamboat, train or plane, between the 1890s and 1960s. Back then, illustrated travel posters were used as advertisements. Today, we see those same posters as pieces of art.
In a time when the Internet hadn’t yet been invented, posters (or “placards” as they were originally called) were travel agencies’ way of reaching new customers. The posters were displayed across Europe and the world, including in Berlin, London, Paris and New York. The message was clear and simple: Come to northern Europe!
This exhibition pays homage to the artists who created the image of the Nordic countries as the perfect travel destination. Oftentimes, the artists would create these posters in economic straits and without the appreciation they deserved.
This exhibition also celebrates all the pioneers at the shipping companies, railways and the national travel associations. They believed in what they did, and they spread their message using these posters.
We at Come to Finland & Sweden, who have produced this exhibition, love these posters. Although they are a forgotten cultural heritage, they are a part of the history of the Nordic region.
The exhibition includes about 130 posters. The Nordic countries were branded as ”the Lands of the Midnight Sun” or, alternatively as ”The Land of Winter Sports”. If that didn’t work the five countries always had the vibrating ”big cities” of the North.
We have searched high and low for these posters
All the works are original prints. We have searched high and low for these posters, through auctions, collectors and public archives. No stone was left unturned in our efforts to uncover the stories behind the artwork, artists and travel agencies.
We wish you many aha moments and smiles while discovering these cultural treasures!
MAGNUS LONDEN & SOPHIE HOLM
Poster Hunters
The exhibition is shown at Nordiska Museet in Stockholm March 11-November 6, 2022. The exhibition is trilingual, English-Swedish-Finnish. You can also enjoy our audio guide that contains a lot of extra material in English.