The Nordiska Museet is devoted to the cultural history of Sweden from the 16th century to the present. A few observations about this museum that already makes me feel like I’m not in America anymore:
1. They aren’t afraid of using recreations to make their point. There is fake food in the section on table settings, there’s replication clothing in some of the exhibits – and in no way does this make me feel cheated. In fact, it allows me to imagine more what life was like.
This, for instance, is one room in a re-created post-war apartment, with bathroom, kitchen, kid’s room, entry way, etc. There are no barriers (except you can’t go in the bathroom.) You are ENCOURAGED to walk around the rooms, to see them from all angles. There is one small sign that says “please be gentle with the objects on display.” This says to me that they fully embrace the participation of both kids AND adults who benefit from a more immersive experience. It’s so wonderful.
2. Have I mentioned that kids are an important audience? Yes, there is a kid’s section, but it really doesn’t look that different from the rest of the museum, and it isn’t some horrible watered-down version of the “real thing.”
3. They aren’t afraid to take time, and not everybody looks like a super model. They have these WONDERFUL videos of people getting dressed in 18th century clothes – and you see all. of. it. Every item, every lace through the corset – no fast forwarding, no cutting to the good part. It takes time to get dressed. They honor that. (I think this video is worth a post on its own, but I’ll get back to that later.)
4. They have a sense of humor. Here’s a display of dala horses, and they’ve included a My Little Pony. I mean, c’mon, that’s funny.
5. They prefer thematic exhibitions and displays. I love this! Not only with special exhibitions, but also with the permanent collections, objects tend to be displayed with a thematic collection instead of just chronologically. Ok, so some of the objects in the “Stripes” exhibition were a bit of a stretch (grooves on pottery, back spindles on chairs, a zebra?, etc.), but in general I really felt like I was being taken on a cultural history tour, whether it was looking at Jewelry, Table Settings, or practices for marriage or death.
I’ll be interested to see how other museums deal with these issues, but this first one is a big winner in my book!
