Moomins Visit to Türkiye

In 2025 we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the first Moomin story. The Embassy of Finland organised a series of events and visits on 6-9 May in İstanbul, Hatay and Kapadokya in collaboration with the Moomin Caharacters Oy and Dinozor Çocuk Publishing House.

The creator of Moomins, Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson published her first Moomin story ”The Moomins and the Great Flood” in 1945, in the shadow of the war. The story features a displaced family looking for a new home. The anniversary is being celebrated all over the world under the theme “The Door is Always Open”, reflecting the inclusive spirit of the Moominhouse. 

On May 6-9, Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson’s niece and the creative director of the Moomin Characters, and Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director at Moomin Characters visited Türkiye and participated a series of events in Istanbul, Hatay and Ankara organized by the Embassy of Finland and the Dinozor Publishing House. The program started with a visit to Taş Schools in İstanbul, with a get-together with the students and the teachers, discussing about the Moomin stories and Tove Jansson. The students asked brilliant questions about Tove’s art and the philosophy of the stories on friendship, nature, and caring about each other.

An exhibition about Tove Jansson and her art is held in İstanbul on 28 April - 17 May in Aynalı Geçit, Beyoğlu. In addition to her art works and illustrations, the exhibition included information about her life, where she lived and created her art. Tove Jansson exhibition was opened in Türkiye for the first time and was appreciated by İstanbul artlovers and Tove Jansson fans with great interest.

In Hatay a story reading workshop was made with the preschool children at AÇEV daycare center at the container settlement. The children listened to Tove Jansson’s "Who Will Comfort Toffle?" story, a story about friendship and helping each other. They enjoyed playing games and the session ended happily with the Moomin books and the toys they received.

Hatay visit was followed by Kapadokya, participating the Kapadokya International Children Book Festival in Ürgüp. The Festival is held this year for the fourth time, with the parcitipation of international organisations and authors, and the Finnish Embassy is participating the festival for the last two years. This year’s festival was as well full of many activities including the book fair, workshops, panels, film screenings, and activities for children. Sophia Jansson had a panel-discussion with the Graphics and Fine Arts students and academicians on Tove Jansson’s illustrations and stories. During the festival, ‘The Moomins and the Moomin Valley’ exhibition was opened, Moomin story reading workshops and Moomin short films screenings were made.

Tove Jansson's books have been translated into Turkish since the early 2000s, first introducing the Moomin series to Turkish readers by Dinozor Çocuk publishing house. The stories captivate both young readers and adults alike, thanks to their rich imagination and subtle philosophical depth. With growing interest over the years, her adult novels, such as The Summer Book (Yaz Kitabı) and The True Deceiver (Dürüst Dolandırıcı), have also been translated and published by various Turkish publishers.