Even though grains of sand are tiny, they can stop the entire machinery. It can be annoying and frustrating. At the same time, it can also be useful to stop for a while. Sand in the machinery forces us to clean the system and start over. Sometimes it can be that small grain that makes us see reality from a new perspective and think new thoughts.

It may not be easy to discover which works are from the National Museum's collections. We encourage you to go on an art hunt. Can you find the "sand" in the machinery?

The exhibition is curated by the National Museum and The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology in close collaboration.

Sand in the Machinery - The National Museum at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology can be experienced between October 1, 2021 and April 24, 2022. 

— This is an incredibly exciting collaboration where our audience can be introduced to some of the National Museum's unique works, while the National Museum's audience can visit us and perhaps get a little technical inspiration. It will be exciting to see if the audience can find all the artworks among our objects. It's great that the National Museum came up with the idea and that we can assist them as an arena while they complete their new museum, says Frode Meinich, director of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology .

– The exhibition is about creating unexpected encounters, seeing art in a new context. This can make the audience look extra carefully and reflect on how the surroundings affect what we see. It is about breaking with the usual and starting other conversations and understandings of both The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology 's collection, but also our own, says Stina Högkvist, Department Director of Collections at the National Museum.