SAMBA contributed to the conference with:
Tuesday 14 october
MENDING (Session 6 works-in-progress)
Cathrine C. Arnesen (NO, Asker/Oslo): Care for traditional boats
GARBAGE (Session 7 works-in-progress)
Kirsten Linde (NO, Akershus) Contested plastic items
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Cathrine presents Care for traditional boats at the conference. Photo: MiA.
Care for traditional boats
By Cathrine C. Arnesen, Kystkulturkonservator NMF/Curator of coastal culture in The Oslofjord Museum, MiA - Museums in Akershus
Traditional boats from Eastern Norway have received little attention over the past hundred years compared to the boats of Western and Northern Norway. This has resulted in significant knowledge gaps. Through the cross-sectoral collaboration project “Eastern Norwegian Traditional Boats: Active Interaction, Knowledge Development, Sustainability, and Living Cultural Heritage”, the Oslofjord Museum/MiA – Museums in Akershus and ten project partners aim to address this imbalance. The project is supported by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Kulturdirektoratet).
Most of the traditional boats in the Oslofjord museum’s collection are stored in pitch dark storage facilities, year after year. They have minimal contact with the world outside – including the museum staff. Drawing on the concept of care, the museum seeks to explore how a multifaceted approach to these boats – for instance: cleaning, provenance research, 3D documentation, technological close studies, and revision of existing documentation – can activate them in new ways and give them a broader societal role.
How might diverse practices related to the boats work together to promote knowledge development, sustainability, and a living heritage? Can gentle, caring "nudges" of the boats awaken familiar and unfamiliar voices and stories? Is it possible to bring out a plurality of perspectives tied to the boats’ current situations and their histories? These voices may be conflicting and irreconcilable, yet they all deserve to be included with care and made heard.
But how do we give voice to the boats’ polyphony – and why does it matter?
The concept of care is inspired by Maria Puig de la Bellacasa and her notions of “matters of care” and “an ethos of care.”
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Plastic straws banned by the EU 2020. Photo: MiA - 2/2
Miniature plastic bottles will be banned by the EU i 2030. Photo: MiA
Contested Plastic Items
By Kirsten Linde, Konservator NMF/Curator in MiA - Museums of Akershus
This work-in-progress presentation investigate what happens when ephemeral plastic items are challenged by new legislation and the demand from the public on more sustainable consumer goods.
Ephemeral plastic items are a neglected group of objects in most museum collections. They have little provenance being used for a short time. They have no place affiliation being produced globally. They have little design features being a mass product. How can we care for these contested items of profusion?
This study looks at plastic items undergoing transformations into more sustainable materials. How does the need for waterproof plastic coating and functional design challenge the transition to more sustainable products? How are the problems of fast-moving consumer goods being met legislatively and within product development?
The presentation is based on small collections of plastic objects in the collections of MiA-Museums in Akershus. Many of these items were not collected to communicate sustainability issues, but seen in a retrospective perspective, they have the potential to tell the story of political conflicts and the big problems and small victories in product development. These insights lead to more questions. How do we follow up on these collections of contested plastic items? Which items should we care for and collect in a world of profusion?
Tekst: Den 05.12.2025.