What a year! We are leaving a very challenging year behind us, but also a year of full speed and a great will to keep going.
The year that has passed has been a year in the sign of the art of balance. We started the year at high speed, great planning and construction activity for several new exhibitions, visitor records and we were looking forward to a fantastic museum year with constantly new and satisfied visitors. As we all know, things went downhill rapidly, with the museum closing in March, layoffs of many employees for six weeks, reopening in May and a demanding month of June. A massive effort was made by all employees to put infection prevention measures in place so that we could welcome the public safely and securely into our large museum building. It was a good summer in terms of visitors, with many tourists on tour in their own country, but with an increased infection trend and challenges in public transport throughout the autumn, the visitors did not show up to a greater and greater extent until in November we were ordered to close again due to the infection situation in Oslo.
Museum director Frode Meinich. Photo: Lars Opstad
Photo: Lars Opstad
The Association of Friends
The purpose of the Association of Friends of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology is to contribute to the development of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology , and to be a forum for enthusiasts, companies and organizations with an interest in the museum's work and technical and medical history. The association has its origins back to the museum's founding in 1914.
The Corona-19 pandemic has also left a clear mark on the activities of the friends' association. The traditional spring and winter family days and the boat trip with DS Børøysund had to be cancelled. Several of the technology history meetings in collaboration with Tekna and NITO Oslo and Akershus were also cancelled. Some of the meetings were limited to participants, but supplemented with a digital solution. The number of paying members was greatly reduced in 2020, from 1352 in 2019 to 1097 in 2020.
The Friends' Association has given NOK 1.38 million as a gift to the museum to contribute to the realization of four major projects:
- Restoration of the industrial model, a miniature model of three industrial societies from the 1950s, with model railway and ship. Members of the Friends' Association have carried out considerable voluntary work on the model since autumn 2019.
- Purchase of a new model railway.
- Restoration, repair and commissioning of the large water wheel.
- Restoration and repair of Birkeland-Eydes Arc furnace.
The Association of Friends transfers a further NOK 343,738. to the museum's operation in 2020. The association is a member of the Association of Norwegian Museum Friends, has its own secretariat and is formally independent of The Norwegian Museum Of Science And Technology .
Companies and organisations
- Autozentrum Sport AS, Porsche Norway, supports the work with the museum's Lohner-Porsche.
- The Directorate for Children, Youth and Families (Bufdir) has granted grants for creative workshop activities in collaboration with three youth clubs in Groruddalen.
- The Bergesen Foundation has given support to a contributing environment for children and young people in the Klima2+ exhibition.
- Fritt ord has supported the Klima2+ exhibition, the Corona Diaries project which is disseminated through the museum's website and the exhibition Life and Death, and the project "Drawn stories about health and medicine" which is a catalog linked to the exhibition Life and Death.
- NEMKO has supported the intake and arrangement of objects, archives and photo archives from their operations.
- The Norwegian Association of Photographers supports the project Norwegian Photo History 9 April 1940 to 22 July 2011.
- Norid supports the new permanent ICT exhibition and the project How to exhibit the Internet?
- The Culture Council supports the project Museums' topography of knowledge (2018-2020), which the museum carries out in collaboration with the Østfold Museums. In addition, the Cultural Council supports several museum network projects in which the museum actively participates: Norwegian photo history 9 April 1940 to 22 July 2011 (led by Preus museum), Now begins a' with it again - about gender representation in the museums' collection and dissemination practices (led by Kvinnemuseet/Anno Museum) and Minner - gathering place for contemporary documentation (led by the Lillehammer Museum Foundation).
- The Nordic Culture Fund has supported the project Future Technical Museums.
- The Oslofjord Foundation supports the research project “Reduced aging and active conservation of plastic objects in museums and collections” (Rapmus), in which The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology is one of several participating museums (led by the Vestfold Museums).
- Ringnes A/S has provided support for a research project on the historical archive of Ringnes Bryggeri.
- Sparebankstiftelsen DNB has deposited a large collection of photographs, DEXTRA Photo, at the museum and for several years has provided operating support for the work of preserving and disseminating the collection. The foundation also finances three new Talent Center hubs and has also contributed to the national project The Maker School, in which the science center is one of the players.