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Oslo - Norway

National Library

The museum

The National Library of Norway was established in 1989. The library is located in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was renovated and reopened in 2005. The National Library of Norway’s collection contains a wide range of books, magazines, music, film, radio and TV programs, pictures, photographs, theatrical material, maps, posters, newspapers and a unique handicraft collections. The National Library has the ambition to be one of Europe’s most modern and exciting libraries: they want to develop a modern digital library services. The digital collection contains material dating from the Middle Ages up to the current day. The digitizing programme started in 2006. It is estimated that it will take 20–30 years for the entire collection to be digitized.

The collection

Opplyst is a new permanent exhibition at the National Library of Norway designed by Nissen Richards Studio. This exhibition, named Opplyst, (meaning ‘Enlightened’), it displays 30 significant objects of Norwegian cultural history. Visitors will discover unique and amazing objects, including: a 12th-century psalter, a Grieg piano concerto, a letter from the South Pole by explorer Roald Amundsen, censored fragments from one of the earliest Norwegian silent movies, ...

The assignment

Meyvaert was selected to produce 30 custom cases for this exhibition, working in close collaboration with the Museum and the designers. In the darkness of the gallery the colorful fabric wrapped internal panels of the display cases make the room vibrant. Each object has his own story and is beautiful on it’s own. This is why the showcases are all black and the information is ‘hidden’ in drawers. Some cases have screens and headphones to show movies or sound screens. All objects are displayed as equal, without hierarchy or chronology. This ensures flexibility for the exhibition in the longer term.

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Project

National Library

Solutions

Custom Design

Country

Norway

Year

2019

Type of museum

History

Designer

Nissen Richards Studio

Architect

Nissen Richards Studio

Scope

30 bespoke display cases

More info

Photos: Gareth Gardner


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