The Theatre Museum’s Archives include archives from performing arts organizations and private individuals, which may contain documents, photographs and audiovisual material. In addition, the Theatre Museum’s archive includes separate collections. The oldest materials date back to the 1830s, and the most recent are from recent years. The collections are continuously growing through new material donations.

Document archive and separate collections

The archive collections come from groups and institutions producing performances, organizations in the performing arts field, and private individuals. There are more than 1,000 shelf meters of paper-based material in total. The oldest documents date from the 1830s, and some of the newest are in digital format. In addition to the main archive collections, there are separate collections of playbills, posters and newspaper clippings. The extensive and systematic newspaper clipping collection on theatre and dance begins with the 1923–24 season and ends with the 2015–16 season.

Photographs

The Theatre Museum’s collections include over 900,000 photographs, most of which are performance and role images. In addition, there are other documentation photographs related to the field and, to a lesser extent, private images. The collections include large photo archives from photographers specializing in different areas of the performing arts. The oldest material consists of role photographs from the 1870s.

Audiovisual materials

The Theatre Museum’s collections contain more than 3,000 video and audio recordings. Most of these are performance recordings and interviews. In addition, the collections include, for example, a small number of sound effects from performances. The oldest performance recordings date from the 1970s, and interviews exist at least from the 1950s onwards.

Using and donating archive materials

Searches in the Theatre Museum’s materials can be made using the Spotti collection management system, which is available in the museum’s research room.

Inquiries and orders related to archive materials are handled by the information service. The information service also manages bookings for research room appointments.

A small selection of the Theatre Museum’s photographs can be viewed and accessed via the Finna.fi service.

Instructions for offering material donations can be found on the Donations page.