Between Material Culture and Written Stories: Erland Nordenskiöld's Collections in Gothenburg

Abstract

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden's national museums have had to increase their preparedness in the event of crisis and war. This entailed that, among other things, the Erland Nordenskiöld collections, which had previously been stored in a shelter under the National Museums of World Culture in Stockholm, were moved to the warehouse of the Museums in Gothenburg. For the first time in about 100 years, these collections are united with archival material from different expeditions under the same roof, opening up new opportunities to view the objects and documents in dialogue with each other. In this seminar we will present the project we are developing. The collaboration is an exercise in approaching the material with an intuitive and exploratory integrative methodology, where archaeological, historical and textual analytical perspectives come together for new insights.