Museums in Strange Places

No matter what happens on the Westman Islands off Iceland's south coast–invading pirates, mass Mormon exoduses, months-long volcanic eruptions, mysterious diseases, perilous fishing waters–the island people, Eyjamenn, always come back to rebuild and repopulate. That's what makes their home island, Heimaey, so unique. In this episode, I visit the local history museum, Sagnheimar , to hear the stori...

After visiting the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Episode 16 , I still didn't get what all the hype was about. So, I sat down with anthropology professor (and fellow Fulbright grantee) John Bodinger de Uriarte to talk about how the museum plays with our ideas of authority and reality, why gift shops in Reykjavík are "museums of imagined Icelandicness," and more.  The song in this episode is Þjr...

I didn't really want to visit the Icelandic Phallological Museum, so to make it more fun, I invited along my Icelandic museum friend, Sig. Join us as we marvel at massive whale phalluses, question the motivation of human donors to the museum, and try to figure out why everyone loves this weird little museum in Reykjavík so much. (This episode contains many PG-rated mentions of penises, but only al...

For this episode, I'm back in Akureyri to visit The Industry Museum , a small museum formed from the enormous personal collection of one couple, who wanted to document the history of the many successful industries based in the "Capital of North Iceland" in the mid-20th Century. Deputy Director Jóna and I talk about nostalgia and relevance, and she shows me some of her favorite exhibits, including...

Tucked away in a narrow valley just below the town of Akureyri in North Iceland, Sverrir Hermansson's Museum of Sundry Objects is one eccentric man's spectacular collection of ordinary things. In this episode, I visit this beautiful little museum, get to know Sverrir, and have an experience that changes the way I think about museums. Music in this episode is by the Bagdad Brothers . _______ Museum...

In this special episode about women's history in Iceland, I visit the Women's History Archive at the National and University Library of Iceland to speak to Rakel Adolphsdóttir about collecting women's history in Iceland and hunting for the women hidden in Iceland's archival collection. I also chat with the researchers behind the Hinsegin Huldkonur project who are trying to uncover the queer women...

The Icelandic Aviation Museum in Akureyri is filled with great stories: locals crashing a Nazi glider into an open grave, the president's plane enlisted to beat the British in the Cod Wars, and a nineteen year search to find a missing WWII plane that crash landed in a glacier. The museum's Chairman of the board, Hörður Geirsson, gave me an insiders tour and told me more about the Flugsafn Íslands...

Just off the Ring Road in the north of Iceland, a small town once known for hunting seals has breathed new life into their community with a much more sustainable industry: seal watching. At the Seal Center  in Hvammstangi, scientists and museum professionals are working together to study seal life in Iceland and help visitors engage more meaningfully and responsibly with some of Iceland's cutest l...

The Icelandic music scene has produced a remarkable number of international stars like Sigur Rós, Björk, Kaleo, the Sugar Cubes, and Of Monsters and Men. You can learn more about them and discover new music at the Icelandic Museum of Rock 'n' Roll . It's a paradise for Icelandic music fans, but it will also impress museum-lovers and professionals with its beautiful exhibits and the near-endless op...

How do you keep history fresh at a municipal history museum, even when many people in your audience have lived in that small town their entire lives? How do you best serve your local audience while still offering something interesting for tourists? These are the challenges the Hafnarfjörður Museum is trying to solve. The museum is housed in seven historic buildings in Hafnarfjörður, an old harbor...

How does a contemporary art institution–places that are notoriously elitist–provide a thriving cultural center in a town's that on the periphery of Iceland and the world? The Hafnarborg Centre of Culture and Fine Art is a contemporary art gallery and collection in the heart of downtown Hafnarfjörður, an old port town ten kilometers south of Reykjavík. They take their responsibility as the only art...

Akranes is a coastal town in the southwest region of Iceland with a growing population of about 7,000. They have a unique heritage, as the area was settled in large part by Celts, not Norsemen. The charming Akranes Folk Museum has been around for almost 60 years, and is beginning a large project to revamp their exhibits to better serve the new residents of the area, Icelanders visiting from the gr...

Hafsteinn Thor has always been interested in geology, nature, biology, and philosophy...and acting and directing...and singing and learning new instruments. But when he met his wife's family, he was draw into their decades-old passion for stone and mineral collecting. Last year, he and his father-in-law finally set up a museum with the family's collection...in the gas station of their small town i...

I visit the Snorrastofa , a research and cultural center at Reykholt, the farm in southwestern Iceland where the great medieval Icelandic historian and writer Snorri Sturluson built his home, a church, and later a small fortress. Snorrastofa Project Manager Sigrun Guttomsdóttir Þormar and I talk about Snorri's dramatic life, his legacy, and his hot tub, which is still in perfect working condition...

I visit the Reykjavík City Museum to talk with Museum Director Guðbrandur Benediktsson about museum mergers, historians as presidents, the state of history in Iceland, and the future of history museums in Reykjavík. The music in this episode is "Humble History Song" by the Icelandic singer/ songwriter Ceasetone .  ________ Museums in Strange Places is a podcast about Icelandic museums and museum c...

In this episode, I drive thirty minutes outside of Reykjavík to visit  Gljúfrasteinn , the museum–and former home–of Halldór Laxness, writer and Nobel laureate. His remarkable life spanned almost the entire 20th century, from 1902 to 1998. He published his first novel at 17 and would go on to publish more than 60 books in his lifetime, mostly novels, but also volumes of poetry and short stories. T...

I descend into the historic city public toilets of downtown Reykjavík to check out one of the newer museums in town, the Icelandic Punk Museum . You know it's legit because Johnny Rotten himself presided over the opening in 2016. In a town with it's fair share of tourist traps, this space is no gimmick. The  museum was created by punks and music scholars  who manage to hit just the right notes wit...

I continue my conversation with Sigurlaugur Ingólfsson at the Árbær Open Air Museum in Reykjavík. We discuss what makes an open air museum visit memorable, whether admission prices motivate museums to stay fresh and engaging, and why we have to think about museums like businesses (sometimes).  Music for this episode created by soandso.  Used here with permission from the artist. _________ Museums...

I visit the Árbær Open Air Museum in Reykjavík to interview the Árbær Museum Project Manager, Sigurlaugur Ingólfsson. In this episode you'll learn about: open air/living history museums in Iceland, museum mergers, tourists vs. locals, Vikings, and why it's blasphemy to visit Siglufjörður and *not* visit the Herring Era Museum. _________ Museums in Strange Places is a podcast about Icelandic museum...