About us

Houtskärs Kulturgille r.f. (The Cultural Guild in Houtskar) works in many ways to promote and preserve the unique archipelago community of which Houtskär consists and its culture, history and future.

• The association maintains Houtskär Archipelago Museum, Houtskärs Skärgårdsmuseum, in the village Näsby. The museum is largely built up by volunteers.

• The association has published several books (in swedish): Jungfruskär (an unique part of the archipelago), Så gjordes det förr (That's how it used to be done) and Läsåbook e Hootjärskå (a book about the special dialect spoken in Houtskär).

• The guild has a boat building facility at the Archipelago Museum where boats of old model are both built and repaired in the winter.

• In the winters, discussions and lectures are arranged on various archipelago themes. The agenda has included seine fishing, dairy farming, and the emigration from Houtskär to America and Sweden.

• The latest in a series of projects is the digitization and publication of the Guild's extensive and unique photo archive http://www.hla.fi.

Houtskär's Cultural Guild was awarded Svenska Kulturfonden's (a Finnish foundation) prize on 6 November 2015.

In the award motivation, the association is said to have built up the archipelago's most extensive and innovative archipelago museum and made a significant contribution to keeping cultural-historical craftsmanship alive.

The motivation also states that the association protects the cultural landscape in Houtskär and has succeeded in involving both children and seniors in their activities.