65 Years Of Moomin Celebration.

The Moomins are a family of hippotomous looking trolls created by Swedish illustrator and writer Tove Jannsson.

In a Finnish woodland you will find Moomin Valley where the family reside in their little cottage.
Previous to the cottage they have been known to live in a lighthouse and a theatre.








There were nine books in the original series starting in 1945, followed by five picture books and a comic strip series in the London Evening news in the 1950’s until the 1970‘s.

Within the books we see the Moomin family go on adventures and meet various friends in tales with mean and motto.

Jannsson has spoken out openly about the inspiration for the Moomins whom she took from her partner and family, and has said ‘Little My’ was a look at herself.

Some of the characters could be described as gloomy or melancholy, such as the Hemulen or Hattifatteners who travel around in groups. The Groke is a black hill with glowing eyes…

Music plays a big part within the stories with descriptions of the sounds of instruments, all the characters sing songs and poems about their thoughts which present statements of their characters personality.

For someone who had the Moomin books read to them as a child they left a lasting impression.

As much as I loved them; I remember those glowing eyes, and the little light on Moomin Papas boat sailing through the mists of forest, certainly caught a youngsters imagination; to the point that I would skip pages…

Just before Christmas I was delighted to find out that one of the local art galleries was celebrating the 65^th anniversary of the Moomins.

The ground floor of the gallery was transformed into Moomin Valley, dimly lit, peeping eyes through the trees.

Fairy lights showing the way around the little houses and boats to lead you into the main exhibit area opened by Finish ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi.







Weekend workshops were being held, you could learn to create Moomin mobiles, cross stitch, cakes and much more Moomin paraphernalia

Until the 15^th January you could visit over 100 original illustrations. Some of them amazed me by the their size measuring no more than 2” by 3” but still maintaining the intricate detail.

There was other Jannsson exhibits displaying magazine covers and adverts during the hey day of propaganda in the 2^nd world war.
They were a great insight into the tongue and cheek humour which surround Nazi Germany by other countries.

My gallery visits were most enjoyable, being 10 again, the slight unsure feeling those glowing eyes gave me, now following me across the valley was something quite magical.

Being able to view the original pieces which are known so well, to the insight of Jove Jannssons interesting life… was by far the greatest specialised exhibition I have encountered in Lancashire so far.