This is part of a cotton bud, often known as a “Q-Tip” after an American brand name. It was found in the Oslofjord. Isn’t this just rubbish? What is it doing in a museum?
Is this your cotton bud?
Perhaps this cotton bud was used in front of a mirror here in Vollen. Someone fixed their make-up and then dropped it in the loo. The sewage treatment plant failed to catch the thin plastic stalk, and it ended up in the fjord. One day, someone cleaning up the shoreline saw it on the sand and picked it up. And now it’s here!
The Cultural Heritage Act
One of Norway’s laws is called the Cultural Heritage Act. In its definitions, it protects “all traces of human activity in our physical environment”. Could this cotton bud stalk really be a cultural relic?
Challenging cultural relics
Could this cotton bud stalk be both rubbish and a cultural relic? There is certainly no doubt that it is rubbish. It was thrown away, after all. And neither is there any doubt that this cotton bud stalk has been part of a person’s life, and is therefore a cultural relic. Imagine following this cotton bud to all the places it has been. Probably quite a journey. Can you imagine that?
In the footsteps of a cotton bud
The plastic was made from oil, but how was that oil formed? Where was the cotton grown? Who works in the factory that made the cotton bud? Do they work long hours? How did it reach the supermarket shelf in Norway? How many people have been involved in this single cotton bud’s life?
Chosen by Cathrine, museum conservator (55)