Exhibitions put archive treasures at risk

Head of the National Archive: Stealing from the archive more trouble that it is worth

print this

By Hannele Tulonen and Hannu Marttila
     
      "The treasures of the archive are always more vulnerable when they are on display in a museum or exhibition," observes Anna Makkonen, head of the literary archive of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS).
      Mika Waltari's notebook, which the archive had borrowed, was stolen last Saturday from an exhibition of the Päivälehti Museum's in Helsinki.
      The Literature Archive is located in the depths of a block of stone buildings in the Helsinki neighbourhood of Kruununhaka, so that even thieves cannot find it.
      Anyone can access the archive, but one has to fill in a form and specify the precise purpose of using the material.
     
The original texts are kept behind locked doors, where no visitors or journalists are allowed entry.
      "In other countries one usually needs a letter of recommendation to access the archives. Finland is so small, and we know our customers fairly well," says Makkonen.
      There are no security cameras, but some will be acquired when the archives move to another location in a few years' time.
      Although the national epic, the Kalevala, and the manuscripts of Aleksis Kivi are priceless, Makkonen and researcher Ilkka Välimäki support a democratic view of access to artefacts. For instance, the diaries of seamstress Ida Digert, who went to school for just one year, is also held in high regard.
      Another one of Makkonen's favourites is Kaisa Juhantytär, who was born in Noormarkku in 1782, and whose hymns have a touch of feminism.
     
Digitalisation will not only enhance the security of the archives, but it will also make them more easily accessible.The Kalevala and the entire works of Aleksis Kivi can soon be read online. All 34 volumes of the Suomen Kansan vanhat runot ("Old Poems of the Finnish People") have been converted into digital form.
      Thefts have also occurred in the literary archives. A gentleman posing as an architect and nobleman once snatched several valuable documents under the pretext of conducting genealogical research. He sold some of the material, but was caught when a Norwegian researcher noticed a letter from Ibsen to a Finnish theatre director, Kaarlo Bergbom, at an auction in London in 1981. The researcher knew that the letter was supposed to be in the archives of the Finnish Literature Society. This clue led the police onto the trail of the swindler, but solving the case was a long process, since it involved hundreds of separate thefts and several museums.
     
An international group of assessors visiting Finland a couple of weeks ago expressed surprise how little effort is made in Finland to digitalise, says Jussi Nuorteva, the head of the National Archive – formerly the State Archive.
      A report by the group is scheduled for completion in February.
      Nuorteva says that the security situation is good, and the archive's facilities are up to standard. There has been no threat of terror, and few cases of theft. The market for stolen archive material is small, and the resale value of the goods is small in relation to the risk and inconvenience of theft.
      Not even the employees of the National Archives know exactly where specific documents are kept, Nuorteva says.
     
"When we lend out material, we follow security measures that we never compromise on", says Kai Ekholm, head of the Library of the University of Helsinki - Finland's National Library. "At the moment we are negotiating on the lending of material by the von Wright brothers to an exhibition."
      Ekholm notes that with modern technology, it is possible to make copies that are virtually identical to originals. "With hindsight, it would probably have been worthwhile to have done something like that with the Sinuhe exhibition."
      The National Library refused to allow an exhibition on  freedom of expression at the Päivälehti Museum to display a copy of a dissident theological work by Jaakko Juteini, of which only two copies remain.
      The pamphlet was seized and burned in 1829.
      "Apparently the exhibition has a copy of the Finnish Literature Society. A thief would have caused more damage by stealing that one."
      The rules of the national archives require that glass display cases have alarms installed.
      "We are just in the process of agreeing on the conditions of an exhibition on the Treasures of Russia. They require the acquisition of completely new display cases, costing about 100,000 euros."
     
Ekholm feels that ranking lists for cultural treasures are unprofessional. "Our responsibility is to look after the whole collection."
      The rarest works in the library have been compiled into a separate collection, which is looked after with special care.
      "Price assessments are for auctions, which we naturally follow."
     
The most notorious case of culture theft involved the valuable Nordenskiökld map collection. Mervin Nelson Perry stole six maps, four of which were recovered; the two most valuable ones are still missing.
      Now the maps have been digitalised, and the originals are no longer given to researchers.
      "The sales price of one Ptolemy atlas on the world market is more than a million euros - so it is certainly not any non-material cultural property", Ekholm points out.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 9.11.2005  

More on this subject:
 FACTFILE: Kalevala and Pro Finlandia appeal key treasure in Literature Archive
 BACKGROUND: Thieves will not accept just anything

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Stolen Mika Waltari "Egyptian" notebook returned (10.11.2005)
  Writer Mika Waltari´s "Egyptian" notebook stolen (8.11.2005)
  Suspected map thief arrives in Finland to face charges (7.8.2001)
  Two maps stolen from Helsinki University Library recovered 27.3.2001

HANNELE TULONEN AND HANNU MARTTILA / Helsingin Sanomat
hannele.tulonen@hs.fi, hs.kulttuuri@hs.fi