Mycelium – Many Histories of the Convent Quarter

Drawing by Janne Aakko

The exhibition Mycelium profiles the life of past residents in the heart of Old Turku after the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. The exhibition Mycelium focuses on the Convent Quarter – one of the town quarters from the time before the Great Fire of Turku in 1827 – where the museum is located today. The exhibition gives you an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the lives of a captain of a trading ship, a wig maker or a widow in 17th–19th-century Turku. Through the individual life stories the exhibition opens up even wider themes of cultural history.

There is a saying that we are all linked by only six degrees of separation from everyone else in the world. These networks are part of what we are. They are spun in time and place. The interconnections between generations are often described as a chain or a family tree, where the different lines of descent are shown as branches and past generations as the roots of the tree, i.e. the ancestry.

The home of the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum is in the Convent Quarter. During the course of history, huge numbers of people have lived in the area. They form a multigenerational network to which we have given the name Mycelium. The cohesiveness of the mycelium is based on marriages, families, neighbourhood, trade relations and friendship. Expanding towards its outer limits and sprouting new filaments the mycelium which is the focus of our study encompasses hundreds of people .

This exhibition tells many fascinating life stories that have some connection to the Convent Quarter in the period ranging from the 16th to the19th century. The stories cover about 60 people altogether. Those who, on account of their accomplishments, left no trace in the archives, have remained almost invisible in this mycelium, too. These people include a large group of maidservants, hired men, apprentices and nursemaids.

The museum has become part of the Mycelium by studying the subject and compiling relevant information from different sources. We have discovered numerous exciting details and now have the privilege to present you with real stories of the life of those who once lived here.

Welcome to the Mycelium!