exhibitions

Spreading around the North Pole, the Arctic is one of the most fascinating regions in the world. In our permanent Science Centre exhibition, this region of opposites can be experienced and studied both from above and within.

Arctic life has adjusted to strong seasonal variation. The amount of sunlight, temperature and nutrient availability vary drastically with the seasons.  

Arctic Opposites is the science-based exhibition of the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland. The exhibition takes you from the dark polar nights and freezing cold to a summer full of light, colours and sounds.

The exhibition has five main themes: The Arctic, Cryosphere, Eight Seasons, Living Arctic and Exploring the Arctic.

The Arctic is warming much faster than the global average. It has a major impact on life on Earth. The polar bear has become a symbol of climate change in the Arctic because its main habitat is the rapidly shrinking sea ice.

Northern people have several words for snow. In the exhibition, one hundred Finnish words are presented. Get inspired by the cryosphere – the area covered by snow but also by glaciers and sea ice, and by permafrost which extends deep below the earth. Create your own snowflake and release it into the sky.

The eight seasons of Lapland are presented through objects that are ordinary to Finns but exotic to many others. Reflector, kick-sledge, mosquito repellent smoke and other everyday innovations tell about the joys and challenges of different seasons.

Arctic lands and waters provide home to over 21,000 species, of which we humans are only one. Get to know the Svalbard reindeer, Arctic mosquito, glacier buttercup, and other Arctic species, and follow northern people in their daily chores. 

The emergence of the northern lights begins from the Sun, nearly 150 million kilometres away from the Earth. By playing, watching and wondering, you will learn more about this fascinating phenomenon, which also tickles scientists.