3 MUST VISIT MUSIC MUSEUMS IN NORWAY
Sometimes I ponder how time just slips by. Spending summer working in Norway for the second season I keep thinking of 2017 which hasn’t been actually fulfilling. As fourth year of wandering goes by, unwritten blog posts accumulate. Recently I finished a few articles regards my one year stay in London but eventually I found a courage to ask myself: why to publish them now? At the moment I am making a living again in the land of the vikings, so isn’t it better to focus on here and now and tell my stories inspired by this place first? The right time will also come to share the rest… or maybe not. We never know.
Yet, today it’s a perfect time to bring you closer to Norwegian music museums. Before moving to Norway one year ago I hadn’t bloody idea they exist so I was really surprised. Imagine how amazed I was, when I was sitting bored on the bus on my way to a new workplace and all of a sudden there was that huge mural of B.B King that has loomed up from nowhere. Back then I wasn’t sure what city I was passing by, but it became clear – Norway feels the blues. It’s time to introduce you to Norwegian music museums.
1. NOTODDEN BLUESEUM
It was in Notodden where I was welcomed by B.B Kings’ mural, which I was thinking about the whole trip. I wondered why an artist took a few square meters of the building’s wall in the center, to paint the god of blues and not a beautiful Viking with golden hair and a flute in his hand. It became certain that Notodden is the Norwegian capital of blues. What is more, Notodden is one of the largest blues centers in Europe, it may also soon become the largest archive of blues materials in Europe. The journey through permanent exhibition of the museum “From cotton fields to Notodden” begins in 1900, and shows how the blues spread over the years and how it became the most important musical form for the development of Western music. From the exhibition, we will also learn about the history of the Notodden Blues Festival and its beginnings in 1988 and how the blues movement in Norway began, becoming a model for other blues circles in Europe at the same time. There is also a library at the center, as well as the Juke Joint studio, which seems to be a museum in its own right. The studio has, for example, a Stax Studio mixing table brought from Memphis.
2. POPSENTERET OSLO
Popsenteret allows you to experience 100 years of Norwegian popular music through interactive audio-visual installations located on four floors and many DIY stations. It lets you record your own songs, design an original album cover, dress up as your idol or even play a concert in front of a virtual audience. Pictures and recordings can then be downloaded through the official website of the museum. The museum also has an interactive map of Musical clubs of Oslo, which was especially helpful when I was creating my own musical map of Oslo. The museum owns many important memorabilia, artifacts, awards, instruments or musical equipment with historical value. Unfortunately, permanent exhibition and temporary expositions are only available in Norwegian, which is not disclosed before purchasing the admission ticket.
3. ROCKHEIM
Rockheim is a national museum of Norwegian popular music, as well as the first virtual museum in Norway. Stretching across six floors, the permanent exhibition takes the recipient on a journey from the 1950s through following decades up to the modern times to get your toes into the development process of Norwegian popular music and culture. The exhibition, taking you through the eras, contains interactive components where you will become a DJ, play on any instrument or paint your own graffiti. In addition to the digital library, concert venue and conference space, the museum has its own Hall of Fame, honoring individuals and bands for their contribution to the development of popular music. The Rockheim Museum aims to build a collection that faithfully reproduces and documents the formation of music and popular culture and maintains the status of the largest archive of popular music in Norway.
There are many of us who follow the Norwegian dream of making large amount of money in short period of time. However do not forget how much the country has to offer besides nature and a good salary. The musical background is a key aspect for me when planning a trip. I did not expect to have so many stories to tell from such a low populated country. Blueseum in Notodden is, however, an absolute hit for me and one of the most wonderful blues places I have visited so far. It’s time to get your kicks on route… to Norway. 🙂
Most photos’ rights reserved to the artists shooting for the purpose of officials websites of museums. Sources: http://bluessenter.no https://rockheim.no http://www.popsenteret.no