Organization: Telemark Museum
Country: Norway
Year: 2023
Sustainability aspiration
The Telemark Museum aims to develop the public programming related to its upcoming publicly accessible storage facility in a responsible and sustainable way, with a particular focus on groups and communities that are underrepresented in the museum’s current audience demographic. This is primarily linked to targets related to “inclusion” within the sustainable development goals.
In this OCM field project, the museum hosted tours in its storage areas, followed by consultations with members of the target communities. The primary goal was to collect feedback concerning the desired features of a publicly accessible storage facility. The data collected is of utmost importance and will be used in the design process of the museum’s upgraded storage facility.
The information-gathering sessions were carried out in a storage facility where the museum keeps different objects, textiles, ceramics and framed works of art. These collections were made accessible to the participants, considering the necessary measures to be taken when inviting the public into the storage areas.
The museum team, with their expertise, gained invaluable insight and a deeper understanding of possible design considerations that would better suit their concept and the museum collections as a whole. Preventive conservation played an important role in ensuring the safeguarding of collection items during the process, and will continue to be a key player in the design process of the new storage areas of the museum.
This field project aligns with the UN Agenda 2030 goals to provide quality education, inclusive infrastructures, reduced inequalities, access to safe and inclusive public places, and ensure responsive, inclusive, and representative decision-making.
