Celtic Connections on the Icelandic Coast: A Visit to the Akranes Folk Museum (S01/E07)
01/10/18 • 23 min
Akranes is a coastal town in the southwest region of Iceland with a growing population of about 7,000. They have a unique heritage, as the area was settled in large part by Celts, not Norsemen. The charming Akranes Folk Museum has been around for almost 60 years, and is beginning a large project to revamp their exhibits to better serve the new residents of the area, Icelanders visiting from the greater Reykjavík area, and an increasing numbers of foreign visitors. I sat down with the museum's director Jón Allansson to discuss the town's unique history and their surprising connection to the current US president.
Music in this episode is by the Icelandic musician Snorri Helgason.
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Museums in Strange Places is a podcast for people who love museums, stories, culture, and exploring the world. This year, the podcast focuses on museums in Iceland.
Subscribe to Museums in Strange Places and you can expect fascinating conversations with Icelandic museum professionals, world class exhibitions, private museums in gas stations, an introduction to Icelanders and their knack for storytelling, and a unique window into the inner workings of museums on this strange but wonderful little island.
Get bonus material from each episode (photos, further reading, links) at hhethmon.com. Use the hashtag #MuseumsinStrangePlaces on social media.
The podcast is hosted by Hannah Hethmon, an American Fulbright Fellow living in Reykjavík. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @hannah_rfh or on the web at hhethmon.com. Hannah has a BA in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MA from the University of Iceland in Medieval Icelandic Studies. After completing her MA, she spent two years as the Marketing Coordinator for the American Association for State and Local History, a Nashville-based national nonprofit dedicated to serving history museums, historical societies, and other public history institutions.
Akranes is a coastal town in the southwest region of Iceland with a growing population of about 7,000. They have a unique heritage, as the area was settled in large part by Celts, not Norsemen. The charming Akranes Folk Museum has been around for almost 60 years, and is beginning a large project to revamp their exhibits to better serve the new residents of the area, Icelanders visiting from the greater Reykjavík area, and an increasing numbers of foreign visitors. I sat down with the museum's director Jón Allansson to discuss the town's unique history and their surprising connection to the current US president.
Music in this episode is by the Icelandic musician Snorri Helgason.
_______
Museums in Strange Places is a podcast for people who love museums, stories, culture, and exploring the world. This year, the podcast focuses on museums in Iceland.
Subscribe to Museums in Strange Places and you can expect fascinating conversations with Icelandic museum professionals, world class exhibitions, private museums in gas stations, an introduction to Icelanders and their knack for storytelling, and a unique window into the inner workings of museums on this strange but wonderful little island.
Get bonus material from each episode (photos, further reading, links) at hhethmon.com. Use the hashtag #MuseumsinStrangePlaces on social media.
The podcast is hosted by Hannah Hethmon, an American Fulbright Fellow living in Reykjavík. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @hannah_rfh or on the web at hhethmon.com. Hannah has a BA in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MA from the University of Iceland in Medieval Icelandic Studies. After completing her MA, she spent two years as the Marketing Coordinator for the American Association for State and Local History, a Nashville-based national nonprofit dedicated to serving history museums, historical societies, and other public history institutions.
Previous Episode
A Family, a Mineral Collection, and a Museum in a Gas Station (S01/E06)
Hafsteinn Thor has always been interested in geology, nature, biology, and philosophy...and acting and directing...and singing and learning new instruments. But when he met his wife's family, he was draw into their decades-old passion for stone and mineral collecting. Last year, he and his father-in-law finally set up a museum with the family's collection...in the gas station of their small town in the south of Iceland. In this episode, I visit the Ljósbrá Steinasafn, the Hveragerdi Stone and Mineral Museum, to hear the family story and find out more about the gorgeous samples in their collection.
Music in the first part of the episode is by Hyson.
Next Episode
Community-Centered Contemporary Art in the Heart of Hafnarfjörður (S01/E08)
How does a contemporary art institution–places that are notoriously elitist–provide a thriving cultural center in a town's that on the periphery of Iceland and the world? The Hafnarborg Centre of Culture and Fine Art is a contemporary art gallery and collection in the heart of downtown Hafnarfjörður, an old port town ten kilometers south of Reykjavík. They take their responsibility as the only art museum very seriously. I sat down with Director Ágústa Kristófersdóttir to learn more.
_______
Museums in Strange Places is a podcast for people who love museums, stories, culture, and exploring the world. This year, the podcast focuses on museums in Iceland.
Subscribe to Museums in Strange Places and you can expect fascinating conversations with Icelandic museum professionals, world class exhibitions, private museums in gas stations, an introduction to Icelanders and their knack for storytelling, and a unique window into the inner workings of museums on this strange but wonderful little island.
Get bonus material from each episode (photos, further reading, links) at hhethmon.com. Use the hashtag #MuseumsinStrangePlaces on social media.
The podcast is hosted by Hannah Hethmon, an American Fulbright Fellow living in Reykjavík. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @hannah_rfh or on the web at hhethmon.com. Hannah has a BA in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MA from the University of Iceland in Medieval Icelandic Studies. After completing her MA, she spent two years as the Marketing Coordinator for the American Association for State and Local History, a Nashville-based national nonprofit dedicated to serving history museums, historical societies, and other public history institutions.
Music Credits: Heim til míns hjarta
Lag og texti: Marteinn Sindri Jónsson
Útsetningar fyrir blásturshljóðfæri: Eiríkur Rafn Stefánsson
Arna Margrét Jónsdóttir, söngur
Birkir Blær Ingólfsson, saxófónn
Eírikur Rafn Stefánsson, flügelhorn
Kári Hólmar Ragnarsson, básúna
Kristófer Rodriguez Svönuson, trommur
Marteinn Sindri Jónsson, söngur og píanó
Tómas R. Einarsson, kontrabassi
Hljóðupptaka: Róbert Steingrímsson
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