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National Medical Museum

National Medical Museum 2021

The National Medical Museum is the country's central custodian of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the history of health and medicine. The museum aims to be a meeting place for different environments, understandings and experiences. Older and more recent health and medical history is communicated in an open, interdisciplinary and relevant way and the development of new knowledge and reflection is facilitated.

LIFE AND DEATH – MAN IN CHANGE

The exhibition Life and Death officially opened on August 24, 2021. It explores central themes around birth and death, diagnoses and treatments through knowledge and expertise within various fields such as medicine, health and natural sciences. The exhibition is both contemporary and historical. The stories are often told based on the experiences and knowledge of individuals, whether these are patients, therapists, relatives or others. It contains unique objects from the National Hospital's collections and other donors. One example is objects from the Maternity Home Exhibition, organized by women's activist Katti Anker Møller. This exhibition was a contribution to the debate about both abortion and a fairer social policy about 100 years ago. The latest developments such as the NIPT test in fetal medicine and diagnostics are also presented. X-ray technology, phototherapy of tuberculosis using the Finsen device and EEG technology for electrical measurement of brain activity are shown through original objects. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the dead human body called Maren, which we believe was found in one of Oslo's cholera cemeteries at the turn of the last century. Other human remains, mainly from of Pathology on display. 

The exhibition also includes a teaching room with a kitchen for activities on weekends and holidays and with school classes. The architect was Anne Schnettler, Copenhagen. The interactive installations were developed in collaboration with Logic Interactive. 

National Medical Museum

Comic book anthology a Life and Death

An unconventional comic book catalogue has been created for the exhibition Life and Death. We hope to use it to stimulate conversations between generations. Seven key stories have been taken from the exhibition and processed through text and images. The artists are Lucy Lyons, Anja Dahle Øverbye, Åshild Kanstad Johnsen, Steffen Kverneland, Øyvind Torseter and Tord Torpe.  

The catalogue is edited by conservator Phil Loring and is published in both Norwegian and English. It is supported by Fritt Ord and published by Magikon forlag. 

National Medical Museum

The corona diaries

As a result of the lockdown of society in March 2020, the documentation project  Koronadagbøkene  launched. It was completed in connection with the exhibition opening in August 2021. The result has been  a website on the museum 's  website : https://www.tekniskmuseum.no/koronadagbokene  and  a separate  presentation  on screens and as books in the exhibition  Liv og død .  have  been  conducted with  eleven  contributors,  four  institutions and  seven  individuals, mainly connected to the health care system. Some of these have written diaries, other participants have been documented by museum employees. In addition, Nordre Aker's first vaccination was documented.  The project is supported by Fritt Ord.  

National Medical Museum

COLLECTION WORK

After the new exhibition opened, the Medical Museum has begun work on reviewing the medical collections, which largely consist of objects from the National Hospital that arrived in 2002 and subsequent gifts and donations after this. Much has been registered, but the goal is to get an overview of the many unregistered objects from the medical collections, initially in the magazines at Kjelsås and later at Gjerdrum. The long-term plan is to have the material that is to be retained revised and registered and to dispose of objects that are not of cultural-historical value. 

The allocation of security funds from the Arts Council led to fire protection work in the medical warehouse M41 at Kjelsås. Objects placed in the area where this work has been ongoing have been packed and temporarily stored and will be returned to M41.  

National Medical Museum

NETWORK COOPERATION 

The Medical Museum  is  responsible for  the National Museum Network for Health and Medical History (NMHM)  , which is  one of  the Arts Council's  museum networks.  It consists of  27  museums,  of which  are  institutional museums under hospitals.  In 2021, activity has been characterized by closures and restrictions due to  corona . The annual seminar was therefore not held. The network has its own website  http://helseogmedisinhistorie.no . 

National Medical Museum