Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Stiklestad is one of the foremost symbolic sites in Norway. Known as the place where St Olav, often referred to as Norway´s eternal king, was killed in 1030, the rural historical site has been an area for political activism and debates on national identity for almost 1000 years. Today it is also the location of Stiklestad National Culture centre. Established in 1995, the museum has over the last years increased its focus on socially engaged practice. In 2019, this resulted in the project “Vårres høytid” (Our holidays). Inspired by the participatory turn, the project invited more that 50 people from the local community to co-create an exhibition at the heart of the Christmas event at the open-air museum. Using an interventionist approach, the exhibition aimed to challenge the traditional narrative of the open-air museum by addressing the multitude of stories members of the local community would tell when asked to address the topic of holidays from a personal point of view and within a contemporary context. Focusing on community engagement, socially inclusive museum practice, local vs. national identities and public trust, this paper will address the strengths and weaknesses of this project, thereby also commenting on the challenges of applying the idea of the inclusive museum to historical sites with well established, authoritative narratives. The paper focuses especially on the perspective of museum professionals.