Last week, two of the BILAD members, Doris Lewalter and Stephanie Moser, had the pleasure of visiting fellow BILAD member Palmyre Pierroux in Oslo / Norway as part of a LABVisit. This trip was a fantastic opportunity to immerse oneself in Norway’s innovative approaches to museum research.
Our visit began at the National Museum in Oslo, which was reopened in 2022 in a fantastic building. Here we met Palmyre, who introduced us to her colleague Dimitra Christidou who works with SEEZ, an intriguing online platform that traces visitor behavior within museum spaces. SEEZ gathers real-time visitor data, helping researchers analyze and understand visitor engagement patterns, pathways, and behaviors. Through this tool, they are able to map how individuals and groups interact with exhibitions, providing museums with crucial insights that can inform exhibition design and audience engagement strategies. Seeing SEEZ in action at the National Museum was inspiring; We gained a fresh perspective on how data-driven insights from SEEZ can enhance our understanding of visitor experiences in ways that are both measurable and deeply impactful. After our museum exploration, Palmyre led us to a lovely evening at a new Norwegian fish restaurant near the museum at the harbor. The informal setting allowed for further engaging discussions.
The following day, we were invited to meet Palmyre’s working group at the Department of Education / University of Oslo. Here, we were introduced to Ole Smørdal, who leads their digital lab, and Postdoctoral Fellow Maja Nurdtug. Both showed us several of their ongoing projects, all at the cutting edge of education studies and digital engagement. We had the opportunity to find overlaps with our own research as well, sparking valuable discussions with the team and opening doors for potential future collaborations. At lunchtime, we joined Rolf Steier at a Café near Oslo Metropolitan University. We exchanged ideas on interdisciplinary approaches to museum studies, exploring connections between technology and visitor experience.
The remainder of our visit was spent touring Oslo’s vibrant cultural scene, including the renowned MUNCH museum and the recently opened public library, the Astrup Fearnley Museum Of Modern Art, the Ekebergparken sculpture parc and an immersive exhibition called The Viking Planet. Each museum and institution we visited presented unique insights into Oslo’s approach to cultural preservation and public engagement, reinforcing the essential role of collaborative and interdisciplinary research in this field.
Reflecting on this visit, we are grateful for the opportunity to engage with such a talented and forward-thinking group of researchers and cultural professionals. We returned to Munich with a wealth of new ideas, an enriched perspective, and the strong sense that our shared work in the BILAD project holds immense potential for advancing museum studies and visitor engagement across borders.
