Lecture: Colours, Dye Imports, and Professional Dyers in Finland, 1700–1850, PhD Merja Uotila

Welcome on Thursday, 9 April 2026 at 4:30 PM to attend a lecture by PhD Merja Uotila, “Colours, Dye Imports and Professional Dyers in Finland, 1700–1850.”

In premodern Finland, clothing colours and their dyeing were governed by numerous regulations and cultural norms that directed the dress and appearance of different social estates. The lecture examines the operating conditions of dyers active in Finland between 1700 and 1850, as well as the regulation connected to the practice of their profession. It also considers how colours were visible particularly in the dress of the peasant population, who became the most important clientele of professional dyers. The import of dyestuffs will likewise be addressed.

The presentation is based on the results of the project Regulated Shades: Dyestuffs, Dyers and Dealers as Indicators of Social Change, 1400–1850, funded by the Kone Foundation.

Project blog: https:/­/­saadellytsavyt.blogspot.com/­

Merja Uotila has served as the principal investigator of the Regulated Shades project since 2024. She studies the work and working conditions of Finnish dyers up to the mid-nineteenth century, focusing in particular on the scope of the profession, working environments, economic position, and the transmission of dyeing knowledge from one generation to the next.

Uotila received her doctorate in Finnish history in 2014 and has worked in several research projects at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of History and Ethnology. Her research focuses on craft history—especially nineteenth-century rural artisans—as well as more broadly on settlement history, cartographic history, and mobility history.

You may attend the lecture with a museum admission ticket or a Museum Card. Free admission for visitors under 24 years of age. No advance registration is required. Please note, that the lecture is in Finnish.

This lecture is part of the events program for COLOUR – A Collection Exhibition of Central Finland’s Art. The COLOR exhibition runs at Jyväskylä Art Museum and Aalto2 Museum Center, at the Central Finland Museum’s Art Hall, from January 24 to April 26, 2026.