Museums in Strange Places

How do you keep history fresh at a municipal history museum, even when many people in your audience have lived in that small town their entire lives? How do you best serve your local audience while still offering something interesting for tourists? These are the challenges the Hafnarfjörður Museum is trying to solve. The museum is housed in seven historic buildings in Hafnarfjörður, an old harbor town in the southwest of Iceland. In this episode, museum director Björn Pétursson gives me a tour of the main building, Pakkhusið, and shares some of the museum's recent successes and challenges. Music in this episode is by FÚNI. _______ 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.

Show Notes

How do you keep history fresh at a municipal history museum, even when many people in your audience have lived in that small town their entire lives? How do you best serve your local audience while still offering something interesting for tourists? These are the challenges the Hafnarfjörður Museum is trying to solve. The museum is housed in seven historic buildings in Hafnarfjörður, an old harbor town in the southwest of Iceland. In this episode, museum director Björn Pétursson gives me a tour of the main building, Pakkhusið, and shares some of the museum's recent successes and challenges.

Music in this episode is by FÚNI.

_______

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.

What is Museums in Strange Places?

I believe that museums are one of the best ways to discover a place, whether it’s your first time visiting or you’ve lived there your whole life. Join me on this adventure as I get to know the world….one museum as a time. I’m your host, Hannah Hethmon. In each episode, I visit a different museum to discover its stories, discuss challenges and triumphs with fascinating museum professionals (and volunteers), and get to places through their museums. Season 1 is all about museums in Iceland. Season 2 is all about museums in the state of Maryland.

NOTE from the creator: This show is no longer active. I hope you enjoy all the past episodes. I produce lots of other museum (and museum-adjacent) podcasts. You can find them at BetterLemonAudio.com. Also check out We the Museum, my podcast for museum workers.

Interested in starting a podcast at your organization? Find out more about my editing and production services at BetterLemonAudio.com.