Symposium “Remembering the distant past: cultural memory in Finland from Hammurabi to Hilma Granqvist”
When and where: 23rd of October 2026, 10 am - 5.15pm, University of Helsinki Main building (Fabianinkatu 33) room F3005
Research on cultural memory often focuses on how people of the past maintained the memory of their own past. In this symposium we focus instead on how the past is remembered in the 19th and 20th century. We focus both on the mnemonic veil of the distant past and its historical characters in publicity but also on how researchers and artists participated in remembering the past. The presentations emphasise cultural memory in the Finnish context.
The symposium is organized by ANEE+ Interdisciplinary Research Network at the University of Helsinki and the discipline of Cultural History at the University of Turku.
The event is free, but please register by 16th of October for in-person participation. The event will be live streamed.
9.45-10.00 Coffee service
10.00-10.15 Opening remarks from the organizers
10.15-10.45 Hannu Salmi: Moses the Egyptian in Finnish Cultural Memory: A Mnemohistorical Approach
10.45-11.15 Jason Silverman: Scholars and imaginations of Persian imperialism
11.15 - 11.45 Reima Välimäki: The Ancient Kings of Finland: Pseudohistory, Cultural Memory, and 21st Century Nationalism
11.45-12.00 Discussion
12.00-13.30 Lunch break
13.30-14.00 Emanuel Pfoh: Who Remembers Hilma Granqvist? The Ethnography of Palestine beyond Biblical Imagination
14.00-14.30 Rick Bonnie: Heritage and Identity: Finland's first Assyriologist Karl Fredrik Eneberg
14.30-15.00 Sari Katajala-Peltomaa: Remembering Birgitta: The Afterlives of a Saint, Symbol, and Role Model
15.00-15.15 Discussion
15.15-15.45 Coffee service
15.45-16.15 Heli Heino: Jarl Gallén and the Catholic Past of Finland
16.15-16.45 Joanna Töyräänvuori: Remembering Troy: Writing Collapse in Classical and Neo-Classical Reimaginings
16.45-17.15 Final discussion