Constructing Ethnic and National Belonging: Ingrian Finnishness in a Museum Exhibition

Abstract

Abstract A temporary exhibition called Ingrians—The Forgotten Finns was on display at the National Museum of Finland in 2020. The exhibition presented the ethnic minority of Ingrian Finns, concentrating on their memories of persecution in the Soviet Union, ethnic mobilization, and migration to Finland. By examining the exhibition's meaning potentials across different semiotic modes, the article explores the ways in which it discursively constructed Ingrian Finnishness. The findings suggest that the exhibition strongly argued for the inclusion of Ingrian Finns in the Finnish nation and highlighted cultural features associated with Finnishness, but also presented them as a distinct group. Remembering the difficult past was viewed as the very essence of the collective identity.