Museum experts from Norway with a study visit to NMM

Publication date: 3 June 20223 June 2022

The Gdańsk Crane renovation and modernization project, initiated at the beginning of 2021, opened the possibility for the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk to conduct activities reaching far beyond the simple renovation of the facility. The educational programs, competitions project promotion activities, outdoor exhibitions related to the Crane during its renovation – these are just some of the activities conducted by NMM. The most important activities within the project also include the cooperation with partner institutions: Stiftelsen Museum Vest and Stiftelsen Lindesnes Fyrmuseum. From 15th to 19th November 2021, their representatives came with a study visit to our museum branches and also visited the Kashubian Ethnographic Park in Wdzydze Kiszewskie.

Guests from Norway: a group of historical construction specialists and educational movie producers were officially welcomed at the Maritime Culture Centre in Gdańsk by the director of NMM, dr Robert Domżał. The first meeting was led by the head of the Education Department Przemysław Węgrzyn, responsible for contacts with partners within the project. The guests listened to a presentation by Jagoda Klim from the Department of Inland Navigation History about the new permanent exhibition in the Crane; then, they themselves talked about their own museum activities – a special presentation about Stiftelsen Museum Vest was provided by Lisa Amalie Elle from Bergen. After the exchange of experiences and opinions, both museum teams went on a tour of the Crane and discussed the renovation works planned in the facility. Then the guests visited the exhibition “Boats of the Peoples of the World”, shown around by the senior director of NMM, dr hab. inż. Jerzy Litwin. At the end of the day, museum experts from Norway visited the Żuławy Gate, where they learned about the history of the building and the characteristics of activities performed by the conservation workshop located in the building.

Our guests also had the opportunity to talk about wood conservation the next day, during their visit to the Shipwreck Conservation Centre in Tczew. The specificity of the wooden objects’ preservation and renovation processes in the modern NMM conservation workshop was presented by dr inż. Irena Jagielska and dr inż. Katarzyna Schaefer-Rychel. Then the museum experts went to the Teodora and Izydor Gulgowscy Kashubian Ethnographic Park in Wdzydze Kiszewskie, where, shown around by local guides, they had an opportunity to learn about the conservation process of local wooden buildings and the related renovation works.

During the last day of their visit, the guests from Norway visited the Fisheries Museum in Hel, where they learned the issues related to conservation and maintenance of the historic museum building. Thanks to the courtesy of Tadeusz Muża, the head of the Hel branch of NMM, the museum experts could visit not only the local exhibition and open-air museum of fishing boats, but also see the traditional Hel based Kashubian hut. The guests were accompanied by the deputy head of Education Department, Kamila Jezierewska.

The visit, coordinated on the part of NMM by dr inż. Weronika Pelc-Garska proved to be an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences, primarily related to the conservation of historical buildings, which, as exemplified by the Crane and the Fisheries Museum in Hel, can successfully function as an exhibition space. Our partners were very impressed by the scale of NMM’s activities related to the conservation of wooden objects, but above all, they were impressed by the Crane, with its size and structure unique in Europe. The issues discussed during the visit will continue next year, when a group of Norwegian museum experts visit NMM again. A visit of our employees in Norway has also been planned.

The project “Maintenance, renovation and modernization of the Gdańsk Crane – a branch of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk with the creation of a new permanent exhibition” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.