Travel in time in the exhibition "Mitt Stavanger"

(Sponsored content) What was it like to run one of the city's first stores, to be able to offer exclusive goods from abroad to customers who had previously only bought what they needed at the market? Or what might it have been like to move to Stavanger from the surrounding villages, or perhaps board a ship bound for America?

Stavanger will celebrate its 900th anniversary in 2025, and as early as 20 June this year you can join a journey through time consisting of unique rooms with artefacts, art, soundscapes and stories that illustrate what it has been like to live in the city through the ages. Wormholes will guide you from room to room.

A very special exhibition

Where is it? At Stavanger Museum, in the anniversary exhibition "Mitt Stavanger" (My Stavanger).

- "Mitt Stavanger" is a very special exhibition at Stavanger Museum. It tells the story of ordinary people who have lived here, and we hope you will feel surrounded, touched and engaged by history," says Mette Tveit, curator at Museum Stavanger and project manager for the anniversary exhibition.

Stavanger counts back to the year 1125. That's when the city was established as a bishopric and the beautiful cathedral towered over the safe harbour in Vågen.

- Rather than telling the story year by year, the exhibition gives visitors a sense of atmosphere. Visitors travel back in time through various exhibition rooms. One of the unique aspects of "Mitt Stavanger" is that the museum has commissioned artists to express the story in each of the exhibition rooms. In this way, expressions and surroundings change as we move through time," says Mette Tveit.

Artists bring the centuries to life

The historical exhibition is thus also an exhibition where art and artists make their mark.

The 1100-1200s were designed by Maiken Stene, who filled the exhibition space with an illusion of forest and nature. Stavanger was not a city as we know it today when the cathedral was built and a new bishop took his seat here.

As visitors are entering the 14th and 15th centuries, they will be enveloped in darkness. Artist John Raustein has recreated some of the eeriness, fear and trauma we can imagine was experienced when the great plague, the Black Death, raged. In the absence of medicines and vaccines, people believed in the protective power of silver.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, some of the most beautiful church art was created, while at the same time, women were brutally condemned and executed for witchcraft. Artist Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen shows the paradoxes of this period and illustrates the story of Trau-Astris, one of the women condemned for witchcraft by Stavanger's eager witch hunters.

The 18th century saw the arrival of luxury goods and country stores in the small western town. Before then, there were no shops, all trade took place at markets. In "Mitt Stavanger" you meet Birgitte von Führen who ran a shop - until things went wrong. Artist Nils-Thomas Økland has brought the store to life in bright pastels.

The 19th century was a time of migration. People moved from the countryside to the city, and from the city to America. Stavanger grew from around 2,500 inhabitants to 25,000 in a century. Through Arne Nøst's artistic installation and film, you will get a sense of what life might have been like for Malene Larsdatter, who came to Stavanger as a servant.

Room for reminiscence and reflection

Closer to our own time, we encounter the oil industry, mass consumption and lots of memories for those of you who lived in the 1900s in the room created by artist Elin Melberg. The disco ball in the ceiling illuminates comics, toys and interior items that those who have lived for a while will be able to reminisce about.

The sound of the story is created by composer Nils Henrik Asheim. Asheim's music creates a unique atmosphere on the journey through the centuries.

On the way into the future, the last stop is the 21st century; the century of e-scooters, headsets and mobile phones, which has only just begun. Linda Lamignan is the artist who has created a space for reflection on the times we live in and the future we face.

Letter to the future

And if you like, you have the unique opportunity to send your greetings to the future. The plan is to send 1,000 letters to Stavanger on its 1,000th birthday in 2125 - and if you want, you can post your letter to the future in the museum's mailbox.

So, join us on this exciting, atmospheric journey through time from the city's origins to far into the future. "Mitt Stavanger" will be exhibited at the Stavanger Museum from 20 June 2024.