What can one and the same object tell us about the museums' different mandate, gathering practice and dissemination? And what stories are brought to life when a seemingly ordinary object is given a place in the limelight? Join us on a journey into the museums' world, seen from the whistlephone's perspective. We meet Master's fellow for 2024, Sara Alette Nygaard.
- What is your background?
I am a student in museology and cultural heritage studies at the University of Oslo. I have backgrounds from studies at UiO in cultural and art history, and previous education as a florist. So I have a mix of academia and craftsman in me.
- What findings do you hope to reveal in the master's thesis?
The theme of the thesis is to compare one similar object, which is on display at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology and the National Museum in Oslo, to investigate what an exhibition does with an object and what an object brings to a museum.
The item I chose is the phone EB 1967 model, also called the whistlephone. A use of use enough many who lived in the 60-70-80s have a relationship with, but which I couldn't do anything before. By looking at the same type of object at two different museums, I want to look at how the two museums make their mandate and collection and exhibition practices differently, any equally. What have the two museums chosen to emphasize on the phone? How have the museums presented the phone, and what conditions lie in the museums' collection and exhibition practices?
- Why The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology ?
The thesis is about both The Norwegian Museum Of Science And Technology and the National Museum, both of which are chosen because they are national museums in different fields and are located in the same city, Oslo. It provides a good basis for comparison, where the differences in mandate and practices in the museums can emerge.
- What is your favorite object at the museum?
Can I answer something other than the phone "my"? At least I have become very fond of the gray, mass -produced everyday phone. To me, it shows that a museum object does not need to be any unique or gold plated to be fascinating. The phone I write about is to be found in a mount in the I/O exhibition at The Norwegian Museum Of Science And Technology . But there are actually four copies of the 1967 model visible at the museum.
Otherwise, I considered writing about the telephone booth Riks, as a starting point for my task. The red telephone booth, also exhibited in the ICT exhibition I/O, I like because you can go into it and get a sense of what it was like to use it. It provides another museum experience. It is also a fun combination of architecture and design - building or utility?
- Has the task led to a surprising discovery?
With little advance knowledge about the phone I chose, I have been fascinated by how, when, when the 1967 model was the telecommunications system, the telecommunications apparatus had to stand in a telephone queue to get a landline at home. Demand was greater than the Telecommunications Administration was able to operate. Far from our everyday life now, where we all have a phone in our pockets and change it when you want to.
The Televerket received many telephones in return when people switched to newer models, and several of the 1967 models ended up at the former Telemuseet, now part of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology . As a result, The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology has over 100 copies of the 1967 model in its collection, while the National Museum has one on display. This difference in the collections is not reflected in the exhibitions at the two museums.
- What is the dream after finishing a master?
- How has the collaboration with the museum characterized your approach to the master's thesis?
The collaboration with the museum has been only positive. Getting this master scholarship has given me the opportunity to be at the museum as much as I need. All the employees I have asked have lined up with time and shared their knowledge of the collections and the exhibition work. I was lucky enough to have an internship here in the fall of 2024 as part of the course of study. During that period I got to know many at the museum, and it was a good start to the master's thesis.
