Season opening with lecture and ribbon cutting on May 1st.

 

It has been a busy few days at the museum for a while now with lots of renovations and changes on all floors. The largest new exhibition is the boat hall on the first floor where five boats have been given space. In addition to a lot of other catch and fishing equipment. There has also been space here for tables from an otter that used to be used as table coverings on a boathouse wall in Hareid.

The county conservator has pointed out the high educational value of these boat boards when they are almost folded out of the wall so that one can see how they were, and how the resources have been used for the boathouse wall.

Now that the boat tables have been installed at the Ishavsmuseet, it will serve as a communication object for younger generations. A 1:10 scale model of the otter has also been built, which will be exhibited in conjunction with the otter tables. This model was built by Saxe Bjørkedal.

The project has been a collaboration with Hareid Municipality, Sunnmøre Museum and Ishavsmuseet.

Specialist consultant at Sunnmøre Museum, Håvard Hatløy, says that these boat boards have a very high conservation value, and that it is a good solution that they are now being preserved in a museum context at Ishavsmuseet.

Hatløy will give a lecture at the Ishavsmuseet on the opening day, May 1st at 2:00 PM, about the Sunnmørsottringen.

It was from such ottrings that the Sunnmørings fished far out to sea for generations, he says.

Mayor of Hareid, Anders Riise, will preside over the grand opening of the new exhibition space after Hatløy's lecture. Riise is looking forward to the opening and is proud of everything that the Ishavsmuseet and Hareid municipality have to show from our earlier maritime history.

But the Ishavsmuseet has much more to offer at its opening this year. There is also a new addition to the fourth floor. This floor was previously closed to the public, but has now been renovated and will be opened for the season. Here there will be both exhibitions and plenty of space for those who want to sit down to watch films, pictures and magazines about history.

The exhibition about Svalbard and the Arctic Islands has been moved up one floor and has been expanded somewhat. Ishavsmuseet has experienced significant growth in recent years, and the director of Ishavsmuseet, Webjørn Landmark, is very excited about the new opening and is convinced that these new initiatives will help lift the museum another step up and forward.

 On May 1st, the museum will be open from 12-17pm with coffee, cakes and a delicious traditional Sunday dinner. Set aside the day for a visit to the Arctic Village.