What makes a museum great? I am at Skansen, Stockholm’s traditional open air museum and I’m not feeling it. I expected a five star attraction. It’s not. And I’m trying to understand why.
I paid kr 305:- for a one day ticket. "Maybe it’s the inflation?" a friend offers. I don’t know. I paid 70:- for a museum ticket at museums outside Stockholm this summer that I’ve enjoyed much more. It’s not that Skansen is bad. It’s just not great.
A little bit of everything
My first impression as I enter the park is that of a horror cabinet. Gigantic historical buildings relocated from their original habitats, soulless, taken out of context. The manor, the belfry. They are just empty husks. I’ve seen such buildings in situ, in their historical environment where they tell their story as they merge with the landscape. A belfry on Mörkö south of Stockholm. Alby Manor right next to my home. Here I paid 305:- for a chance to see everything in one afternoon and I’m not excited.
Maybe I’m not the target audience? Well, who is the target audience? Tourists that want to experience all of historical Sweden in one day without leaving the city centre? Grandparents and parents inducing their toddlers with some authentic Swedish je ne sais quoi? I don’t have a connection to a mythical historical past where I visited my aging great grandparents in their rosy but primitive natural environment. Or actually I do, but these memories are from rural Denmark, not Sweden. For nostalgia I go to Den Gamle By in Århus.
But there should be something here at Skansen for me. Immigrant Dane, raising kids in Suburbia Stockholm, having studied Swedish history and who enjoys exploring new places in this beautiful region of Sweden. Shouldn’t there?
I do find something of interest before I leave. In the mechanical workshop in a back room, an exhibition tells of three 20th century civil wars that shaped Europe perhaps even more than the world wars. Finland, Spain, Greece. But then again, I ponder: Why tell this story here? It’s all so fragmented. A “best of” Sweden that is more like a porridge of good-enough.
From 17th century farmsteads, over 18th and 19th century shops and town houses, to 20th century workshops and allotment houses. You get a sample of everything but not a coherent story.
Augmented reality
“That is the story we chose to tell,“ a staff member replied to a guest. Most of the houses have staff dressed out in authentic clothing. They sit there for the day. “What are you doing?” I ask one of them. “Today? Nothing,” he replies. “Sometimes we repair stuff.”
There are small signposts everywhere. A mix of a super short summary of what the place is, where it came from, when it was built and what it was used for. Mixed with “don’t feed the animals” and “beware wet paint”. It’s like augmented reality. A constant reminder that this is a museum, not the real thing.
So I read the small sign as I enter the recreated spice shop. Then I ask the woman behind the counter what the place is. Then she says exactly what I just read on the sign. I’m not feeling it. I ask her where I find the glass makers workshop. She breaks character and helps me find the place on the map.
The glass makers workshop is a full blown workshop for producing objects of art from glass. With seats for park visitors to watch the process. And a gift shop next door. With tourist prices and tax free option. None of the objects in the shop have any historical significance or any practical use except as souvenirs and mantel pieces. The craftsmen fully absorbed in their work. Why is there a glass makers workshop here? What role did glass making play in the history of Sweden? I don’t know.
Live mannequins
Perhaps Skansen was revolutionary in 1891 when the park opened. But today I expect much more. Either I get to take in an exhibition in my own pace. Or I watch a scene unfold in front of my eyes. Story fragments that excite and engage me and make me believe that these characters are real persons with dreams and hope and wants and needs. At Skansen I feel like I’m intruding on someone’s private space when I enter their room. They are live mannequins, not historical characters.
I know it can be done because I have seen it elsewhere. In Gamla Linköping, characters acted out a demonstration for women’s right to vote. At Torekällberget an entertainer walked the premises and engaged us to see his mechanical flea show. At Astrid Lindgrens Värld, actors would re-enact scenes from her stories and walk the park, engaging each other and visitors in story fragments and in character conversations.
In these places I felt the actors loved what they did. They broke the ice and invited me into their fictive historical world. These moments I remember now years later. But at Skansen, I feel no such passion. Instead I feel that people just work here and are waiting for the clock to strike five so they can get back home to their everyday lives.
Also a zoo
Skansen also offers a zoo with a selection of animals living in Sweden. Yeah it’s nice. To see a moose up close. A seal. In the middle of the city. Read about what Skansen is doing to help save endangered species. But it’s also not a five star zoo. Just enough to show you something. And on a warm summer day, all animals are resting and sun bathing so they are also not really doing anything. Just a special kind of living furniture for you to observe as you walk by.
So what makes a museum great? Staff who love what they do. The stories they tell. Of real people with hopes and dreams and wants and needs, prevailing through hard times to create the world we take for granted today. I wish Skansen all the best. And for sure they have constrains on what they can do. But I think they could offer a much better experience.
A great museum experience
On our way home from western Sweden we stopped in Lidköping at Lake Vänern. A town of which I knew nothing. We needed a break from driving so we took 1-2 hours to visit the local museum. Not a large place. Also suffering a from past donations that really don’t fit in. And wanting to tell many stories at the same time. But they succeeded much better. We learned about fish in Lake Vänern from their aquarium. We learned about the people who shaped Lidköping, from entrepreneurs to washerwomen. And here I found the most interesting museum experience for me this summer: A collection of kitchen utensils of plastic, aluminium, stainless steel and glass with a video loop with the person behind the collection — with passion — telling us how significant a change for especially women these items were, how stainless steel meant no longer having to polish your cutlery after every meal, how a lightweight plastic bucket was a revolution to leaky, heavy zinc buckets of the past. The story of every day objects and every day people.
“It belongs in a museum!” Indiana Jones famously shouts at the villain in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Then at the end we see the Ark of the Covenant being stored away in a huge warehouse of identical boxes. To be forgotten.
I don’t know. You can collect and preserve all these largest, oldest, tallest, smallest, most special something. Hide them away in big ugly store houses with barbed wire fence and video surveillance. Have billionaire collectors sink their money into such ventures. I don't care.
To tell the stories of the past, give me every day objects and stories about how these changed the lives of our ancestors, told by people who care. This is what makes a museum great. This is what Skansen could be. Then it would be a five star attraction.
Stockholm sightseeing tips
Some free sightseeing you can do in Stockholm instead:
Explore Stockholm Old Town on foot. Skip the busy Main Street and take any of the narrow side streets. Remember to look up and behind you. Go in the morning or late afternoon.
Explore Södermalm on foot. South of Old Town lies Södermalm. Take the steep climb and explore well preserved historical buildings in their original environment and enjoy the view from Skinnarberget of the Stockholm City Hall.
Right outside Skansen you will find historical park benches. Stockholm was early to have factories for cast iron objects to increase the value of the iron produced nearby.
I'm Thoughtful Dane and I offer guided tours of Stockholm. Some sample tours here.