Tjóðsavnið (The National Museum) – Trap The Faroe Islands

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur

In 2002, the exhibition Úr útlegd (Home from exile) opened at the National Museum in Brekkutún 6, after the Kirkjubøur chairs and other objects had returned to the Faroe Islands by agreement between the Faroese and Danish authorities. The Kirkjubøur chairs include 16 chairs or pew ends, two ends for a lectern or prie-dieu and a confessional. They are believed to have been made in a West Norwegian workshop and are among the finest examples of church furniture and Nordic woodcarving art. The chairs were made for the Magnus Cathedral in Kirkjubøur, but were later placed in the old parish church. In connection with a restoration of the parish church, the Kirkjubøur chairs were sent to Copenhagen in 1875. THOMAS BILLE, 2021

Tjóðsavnið (The National Museum) was established in 2018 by merging the country’s national museums of culture and natural history. The museum has departments of archaeology, ethnology, building culture, plants, terrestrial animals and marine animals. Its administration is located in Kúrdalur in Hoyvík on the outskirts of Tórshavn and includes an open-air museum. Nearby is the museum’s storage facilities and exhibition building at Brekkutún 6, whose permanent exhibition offers an experience of the natural and cultural history of the Faroe Islands. The natural history part includes the Faroe Islands’ geological origins, birds, fish, whales, benthic animals, terrestrial animals, plants and lichens.

The photo shows one of the Kirkjubøur chairs with Eric of Pomerania and Queen Philippa’s coat of arms as the motif. They were married in the period 1406‑30, and the chair therefore dates back to this period. Under the coat of arms, Mary and Elizabeth from The New Testament are seen. ÓLAVUR FREDERIKSEN/TRAP FAROE ISLANDS

The cultural history part includes an archaeological exhibition about the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, historical events and objects, the development of fishing and whaling as well as the Faroese rowing boat and national costume. The cultural history part of the museum has its origins in the Føroya Forngripagoymsla (Faroe Islands Historical Collection) from 1898, when the collection of objects from all over the country was initiated. The establishment of the historical collection was a counterweight to the collection that The Royal Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities had started in the Faroe Islands in 1817, and which continued throughout the century. The collected objects were sent to the Royal Museum of Nordic Antiquities, the Danish Folk Museum and later to the National Museum in Copenhagen. In 1931, the historical collection was transferred to the newly built library building on Debesartrøð in the centre of Tórshavn, where it shared premises with Færø Amts Bibliotek (the Faroe Library) and Færø Amts Arkiv (the Faroe County Archives). Føroya Fornminnissavn (Faroe Islands Museum of Cultural History) was established as a public institution by a Løgting Act in 1952. Føroya Forngripagoymsla became part of the museum and was tasked with safeguarding the country’s cultural heritage through administration of the Ancient Monuments Act from 1948. In addition to the museum’s exhibition in the library building on Debesartrøð, the museum got more spacious premises in Bátahøllin (the boat hall) in 1952, which had room for both the museum of cultural history and the new museum of natural history. In 1996, the museum of cultural history moved its exhibition to the current premises in Brekkutún.

The natural history part has its origins in older geological, zoological and botanical collections, including the botanical collection Herbarium Faeroensis. Jarðfrøðisavnið (Museum of Geology) was established by a Løgting Act in 1951. By an amendment to the act in 1955, the museum was expanded to also include zoology and botany and was given the name Føroya Náttúrugripasavn (Faroe Islands Natural History Museum). Later, Jarðfrøðisavnið became part of Jarðfeingi (Faroese Geological Survey), and Biofar, Havlívfrøðiliga Royndarstøðin (Marine Biological Research Centre), became part of the museum. In 2012, the exhibition of the natural history collections moved to the premises in Brekkutún.

Tjóðsavnið is a cultural heritage authority and handles tasks involving preservation and dissemination of ancient monuments and buildings. Among the protected ancient monuments and buildings are Havnar Skansi (Redoubt of Tórshavn), Kirkjubømúrurin (the cathedral ruin in Kirkjubøur) and other historical monuments in Kirkjubøur, buildings and cultural landscape on the island of Koltur, the King’s yeoman’s farm Dúvugarðar in Saksun, the vicarage in Sandagerði in Tórshavn, the residential houses í Koytu in Sandur and Húsið uttan Ánna in Sandvík and the farm in Depli. The largest complexes of listed buildings are the Royal Monopoly in Klaksvík, Tvøroyri and on Tinganes in Tórshavn. Of the country’s 61 churches, 17 are listed and most are distinctive wooden churches from the 19th century. In 2009, ancient monuments from World War II were covered by the Ancient Monuments Act. The whaling station við Áir is preserved and disseminated as an example of industrial cultural heritage from the early 1900s.

The museum manages support schemes for local museums and ships worthy of preservation. Some local museums also have local archives. 25 local museums of cultural history, an aquarium and three art museums receive financial support. Most operate on a voluntary basis and are independent institutions, while a few are municipal museums. The support scheme for ships helps to preserve and keep the historic ships sailing.

The Faroe Islands have adopted several of UNESCO’s conventions in the field of culture, most recently UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from 2003, adopted by the Løgting (the national parliament) in 2018. In 2021, as part of the Nordic clinker boat traditions, the Faroese boat was included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Tjóðsavnið has been given responsibility for managing the convention.

Further reading