Scandinavian Museums and Cultural Diversity

Katherine Goodnow is Professor at the Department of Information Scienes and Media Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway. Haci Akman is Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology, History, Culture and Religion at the University of Bergen

ISNB 978-1-84545-577-4   -   Published by Berghahn Books, New York – Oxford

Museums across the world are facing the task of capturing, reflecting and representing the notion of complex identities; personal, religious and ethnic. Narratives of national allegiances are being slowly replaced and supplemented by indigenous and minority voices providing a more complex understanding of diversity especially where intangible heritage is called on as a witness. The approach taken by Scandinavian museums in response to this challenge highlights the hybrid forms of cultural diversity and how they interrelate and work together.

By bringing together debates and discussions of identity and diversity, this volume offers a particular insight into a broad geographic region and its diverse people, from the Sámi and the Inuit to new migrants. It also presents a set of historical views on the formation of national museums and their contested perceptions of identity. Whilst developing new arguments and furthering an ongoing debate, it offers museum curators possible ways forward.

“Within the context of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in 2008, this book offers a timely exploration of types of ‘difference’ included in ethnicities, cultures and the relationships between colonial settlers and indigenous peoples.”

Alissandra Cummins,
President of the International Council of Museums