The Viking Ship Museum is home to the world’s foremost collection of Viking-era artifacts. Part of the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo, this century-old museum has undergone significant expansion and is now transformed into the new Museum of the Viking Age. It is scheduled to open late 2027.

Before construction began, smaller and less fragile artifacts were moved to secure storage. However, the museum’s centerpiece collection, which includes the Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune ships—the three best-preserved Viking ships in existence—as well as the unique and intricately carved sledges from the Oseberg finds, posed great challenges. These large, fragile, and structurally complex objects could not be relocated due to the high risks involved, making on-site safeguarding a priority.

This technical tour offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how these iconic objects were protected during construction. It also explores the meticulous process of relocating them to the new gallery spaces, where considerations for long-term preservation, optimal environmental conditions, and an enhanced visitor experience were carefully balanced.

Ringve Music Museum is a part of the Norwegian Music Museum with a collection of over 2.000 instruments. The museum is seated on an old country estate and is surrounded by the beautiful Ringve botanical garden. There will be guided tours of the manor house and of the new permanent exhibition “Soundtracks, the instrument gallery at Ringve”, which opened in 2022. These two display spaces require different approaches to preventive conservation. The manor house is a historic wooden building from 1880 and has its challenges with the harsh climate conditions of the Norwegian winter, whilst the new exhibition is housed in a stone building that uses modern systems for climate control.

In joining this tour, you will be given a tour of the historic building and listen to the music of historic instruments, demonstrated by a Playing Guide. You will visit the museum conservation laboratory for musical instruments, which is close to the exhibition area, and meet our conservators. Since playability is one of the important challenges in musical instrument conservation, you are invited to discuss the balance of the conservation of material and immaterial aspects with us. Additionally, our conservator Vera de Bruyn-Ouboter will present her Ph.D. project on “Material Combinations and Degradation – a Challenge to the Conservation of Musical Instruments”. After the visit to Ringve Music Museum, you will have the opportunity to get a guided tour and a 15 minute organ concert at Nidaros Cathedral.

A visit to Eidsvoll – a guided tour through the interiors of the Manor House.

The Norwegian Constitution was drawn up, deliberated, voted for, and signed in 1814 at the Eidsvoll Manor House. It is one of Norway’s most important national symbols. It is a beautiful example of neoclassical wooden architecture, whose design draws inspiration from the ideals of antiquity, and it is unparalleled in Norway. The visit will focus on the reconstruction of the complete interior to the level of the original appearance in 1814.

In addition to the guided tour, there will be a possibility to visit the Center for Democracy located next to the manor. The exhibition here has its focus both on the historical background of the constitution and on the democracy of today. The exhibition is made with a modern design and several interactive features.

There will be a lunch break and the possibility to purchase lunch in the cafe at the Center for Democracy.

Join this trip to Kautokeino with staff from RiddoDuottarMuseat and get to know the Sámi traditional culture in scenic surroundings in the northernmost part of Norway. The tour will focus on how to preserve the tangible and intangible Sámi traditions and culture for future generations. This tour will have a particular focus on the use of traditional craft in a museum setting.

Guovdageainnu gilišillju / Kautokeino municipal museum is a part of the RiddoDuottarMuseat Museum association and lies by the riverbank in the centre of the community of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. This beautiful outdoor museum consists of buildings moved to the site and demonstrates the nature of the old Sámi culture. Many of the buildings are protected and there are models of turf huts, constructions from the reindeer husbandry, and outlying settlements. Sámi culture is closely linked to nature. The museum area consists of cultivated land from the beginning of the 18th century and was a school site that was in use from 1883 to 1959. In recent years, the museum has worked a lot with building conservation and reconstruction. The collection is related to trade, households, religion, duodji/handicrafts, and pictorial art, with their origins throughout Sápmi (Sámiland).

At the museum, you will meet local museum staff who are both carriers and mediators of Sámi culture. Ellen Bals and Johan Hætta are experts in the field of preservation of traditional Sámi culture and heritage. You will get an insight into the traditional way of living, consisting of reindeer herding, hunting and fishing, building turf huts, and other constructions that were used in reindeer husbandry and outback settlements. In addition, you will be introduced to the rich tradition of Sami handcrafting “duodji” made from different materials like textile, wood, bone, leather, and fur. In the exhibition, you will see examples of the traditional colourful clothing worn in Sámi homelands called “kofte”. This is a living clothing tradition that is constantly evolving and is still in use today. The Kautokeino “kofte” is the most colourful of all the traditional outfits in the Sámi homelands.

The tour will also include a visit to Juhl’s Silver Gallery. This is Finnmark’s first silver smithy established in 1959 and is not just a shop but also a gallery. The building was intended to emphasize the plateau’s generous and undulating forms. At the same time, it was supposed to be an oasis for human creativity and joy. Juhl’s is a contemporary producer of jewellery that make out an important part of the clothing tradition in the Sámi region.

The trip will also pass by the village of Máze, which became the symbol of the fight for the rights of the Sámi people. In the 1970s the village was planned to be flooded due to the development of the Alta Hydroelectric Power Station, but after huge public protests, the plan was cancelled. These protests brought Sámi rights to the political agenda and laid the foundation for the establishment of the Sámi Parliament and the recognition of the Sámi community.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Anno Museum and the Anno Center of Collection Care. Anno Museum is a museal consolidation of small and large museums all over the County of Hedmark. It consists of 29 museums, from local village open-air museums to museums of national and international importance. Anno Center of Collection Care was officially opened in 2022. The building facility is located next to the Anno Glomdal Museum in Elverum. It features 3500 square meters of climate-controlled storage for museum objects, along with conservation workshops and other specialized facilities. This facility works towards all the museums within the Anno Museum organization, focusing on various areas of collection management, including conservation, documentation, preservation, and photography. 

The center is designed to store up to 100,000 items from our vast collections and museum departments, making them available for exhibitions, research, and digital access to the public. The Center of Collection Care plays a key role in safeguarding and making these invaluable objects available to the broader community. Our team ensures the preservation and accessibility of cultural heritage, both for future generations and for ongoing research and study. 

On this visit, we will offer an in-depth tour of our state-of-the-art facilities, including a presentation of our brand-new Bruynzeel storage systems and our Thermo Lignum pest management heat chamber.  Here, we will showcase our efforts in conservation and collection care. During the visit, you will be given a comprehensive presentation of Anno’s pest management protocols, highlighting our approach to safeguarding our collections. At the Center of Collection Care each object undergoes a meticulous process of heat treatment, cleaning, documentation, and conservation before being stored in our specialized collections storage.

Participants will have the opportunity to visit the Glomdal Museum. This is an open-air museum of cultural history encompassing the local region. One of the current exhibitions “Latjo drom” presents the culture and history of the Romani people in Norway.