The exhibitions of the joint project Sport Unites by the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum and TAHTO Center of Finnish Sports Culture have been completed.

Funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Sport program, the project has documented the significance of sports in the integration of people with immigrant backgrounds into the society of their new home country. Based on the material collected during the project the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum and TAHTO have produced extensive online exhibitions and educational programmes in addition to physical exhibitions.

The exhibition by the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum will travel between schools and events in Estonia starting from spring 2025. The exhibition, especially aimed at children and young people, highlights the role of sports as a key tool for inclusion and a promoter of community spirit.

"We believe sports stands out as a powerful force that unites us all and truly is a universal language we all can speak. Therefore, I am very grateful that our museum had the possibility to create this exhibition with the help of Erasmus+ Sports funding to go with the educational programs, says Ingris Suvi, the Head of Development and Sport Unites project coordinator at ESOM. She adds that bringing the exhibition to schools and public events will help to strengthen communities and can even create new ones. "Most importantly, it brings people together."

The Sport Unites exhibition at Tahto tells the stories of athletes and coaches from various backgrounds from the early 1900s to the present day. In the interview series published in the online exhibition and on YouTube, six influential sports persons share their stories. In their own way, each of them reflects the diverse landscape of sports in Finland today.

• The stories in the exhibition beautifully highlight how sports can unite people from different backgrounds. I would like to especially thank our six interviewees. Their stories were quite different from each other and included many interesting and even somewhat surprising observations about Finnish sports culture, says Jouni Lavikainen, Curator and Project Coordinator at Tahto.

The exhibition was created in collaboration with University Researcher Malte Gasche and Doctoral Researcher Sami Koskelainen from the Centre for Nordic Studies (CENS) at the University of Helsinki. Gasche has researched issues related to sports and integration for example in the project Integration and Empowerment: Organized sports and newcomers in Finland, funded by the Finnish Kone Foundation.

• The exhibition and interviews impressively demonstrate the diversity of the Finnish sports field at the grassroots level, and how coaches, officials and leaders from different backgrounds and experiences enrich Finnish sports. It is only a matter of time before they become visible at the highest decision-making levels in sports, says Malte Gasche.

The Sport Unites exhibition can be visited at Tahto’s premises at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium until 17 August 2025. The exhibition utilizes a digital exhibition guide, produced by Reveel, which enables translations of exhibition texts in 28 languages. You can find the online exhibition of the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum here. The extensive online exhibition is available on Tahto’s website in Finnish and English.

For more information:

Ingris Suvi
Head of Development
Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum
ingris.suvi@spordimuuseum.ee
+372 5341 9369

Jouni Lavikainen
Curator/Project Coordinator
jouni.lavikainen@tahto.com
+358447323040