Mobile museum van brings Tornio River fishing tradition to visitors

A mobile exhibition van is bringing the centuries-old lippo fishing tradition of the Tornio River to visitors in northern Finland, Yle reports. The Lippobiili exhibition also uses virtual reality to let people try the rare fishing method.

The touring exhibition was built by Tornio Valley Museum and began travelling along roads in Lapland in the autumn. It introduces lippo fishing, its preservation, the waterways of the Bothnian Bay region and migratory fish.

Lippo fishing has been practised along the Tornio River for centuries. The method mainly targets migratory whitefish, but salmon can also be caught with it.

In lippo fishing, a long-handled fishing tool with a net at its end is carried downstream through rapids. Visitors can try the technique using a virtual reality application.

“Lippo fishing may not even be familiar to many people as a word,” said Julia Autio, the museum’s cultural heritage coordinator. “Hopefully trying it through the VR application will bring the subject closer.”

Autio said the exhibition aims to share the fishing tradition and information about migratory fish beyond the areas around Kukkolankoski and Matkakoski rapids.

The van is an unusual exhibition concept. Autio said she could recall only a few similar museum vehicles elsewhere in the world, including examples in India and Belgium.

“Visiting museums is not an everyday activity for everyone, and hopefully this somewhat different format will lower the threshold for visiting an exhibition,” she said.

The Lippobiili will initially travel along the Tornio and Muonio river region in northern Finland. In the future, it could tour across Finland and Sweden.

Alongside lippo fishing, the exhibition covers the cultural heritage and waterways of the Tornio River region and the Bothnian Bay, as well as migratory fish and UNESCO. In other locations, the exhibition will also focus on waterways and migratory fish in the Baltic Sea region.

Museum technician Aapo Suominen built the van’s interior, including its plywood panelling, displays and electrical wiring. The FrostBit Software Lab at Lapland University of Applied Sciences programmed the exhibition’s screens.

The technology is powered by solar panels installed on the roof of the vehicle. The exhibition is accessible to people with reduced mobility through a ramp at the rear.

Finland and Sweden have jointly applied to add the lippo fishing tradition to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A decision is expected in December 2027.

“With UNESCO listing, the tradition would in a way become something shared by all Finns,” Autio said.

The Lippobiili has received support from the European Union and the Svenska Kulturfonden foundation, as well as a grant from the Border River Commission for its Tornio and Muonio River tour.