The Nordland Museum and it´s presentation of Bodø´s Histiory

 

http://nordlandsmuseet.no/en/nordlandsmuseet/

The Nordland Museum is focused on the town it is built in, Bodø. It shows its history from the early 19^th century on, when the first inhabitants settled down in Bodø and started to build a town with only a few houses, right at the sea where approximately the harbor is today. But it also includes a silver treasure from the second half of the 10^th century, found in Bodø In 1919, and an exhibition of the Sami people. The structure of the museum itself but especially of the exhibition "Our Town" on the second floor is quiet unusual. It does not follow specific rules since it starts with the bombing of Bodø in the Second World War, continues backwards to its roots and afterwards begins again with the post-war period, goes on until today and even shows plans for the next few years. The entrance to the second floor is amazing and grabs your attention right away. The exhibition begins with a reconstruction of a cellar room in a house hit by a bomb from the Nazis in the Second World War. The presentation is very real and made me feel uncomfortable, but in a positive way, so that I wanted to learn more about the background of this room or entrance. The explanation followed immediately with a model of Bodø after the attack of the Germans in 1940. As already mentioned the exhibition continues back in time, with many photos and objects fitting the timeline and ends its first part with a model of Bodø in 1816 where the foundation stones of the town have been set. Between this model and the next part of the exhibition is a huge leap in time to the post-war period and the cold war in which Bodø armed its forces and increased its military significantly. Afterwards it shows the daily life in the 60^th, again supported by pictures, objects and clothes from this time. The end is marked by Bodø´s image film and some models of further plans, to make the town even more attractive. The exhibition itself is supported by the installation of light and a film which again shows the history, but this time in the right order. The light installation is very interesting and supports the mood of the different times. In the beginning, which means in the part of the bombing of Bodø in the Second World War, it is very dark, only the exhibits are lighted. This underlines perfectly the tragic of these events. The illumination gets brighter the further you get. Also the film helps understand the history better, even though there is a little too much information for this short time, especially if you don´t understand Norwegian. It is only possible to focus on the subtitles and you miss all the amazing pictures. But the idea of telling the story with reference to some important families in Bodø is great and makes the film special. All in all the museum offers a great insight in the history of Bodø, especially with the support of all the town models and great photos.