Ishavsmuseet Aarvak

About the museum

Ishavsmuseet Aarvak is a self-governing foundation that preserves the history of Norwegian sealing, hunting and polar exploration and supports studies and research. The museum is a specialist museum on polar history, with a particular emphasis on sealing and overwintering hunts, and is a national centre for hunting in the polar regions.

The museum moved in 1998 into an old boathouse from 1950 in Brandal, one hundred years after the first vessel set out from Sunnmøre. The same year the polar vessel “Aarvak”, built in Bergen in 1912, was hauled up onto a dry dock beside the museum. A large protective building over the ship was completed in 2009. “Aarvak” is today the oldest surviving sealing vessel in Norway of those built specially for sealing after 1900.

The foundation has collected around 6,000 objects, about 75,000 photographs and several films from polar regions going back to 1924. The museum also has a large vessel archive with information on around 500 polar vessels and has published a number of books on Arctic history.

Highlights

• The polar vessel “Aarvak” from 1912 in its own protective building
• Exhibition on overwintering hunts in north-east Greenland, with a replica of the Hoelsbu wintering hut
• The exhibition on the adventurer Ragnar Thorseth
• Coal mining in “Brandal City” (Ny-Ålesund)
• Café and museum shop with polar books and sealskin products

Permanent exhibitions

• Ishavsskuta Aarvak – The vessel “Aarvak”, built in Bergen in 1912, stands on land in its own building and shows the appearance of sealing vessels in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Overvintringsfangst på Nordaust-Grønland – The exhibition tells of Norwegian hunters' overwintering in north-east Greenland and has a replica of the Hoelsbu wintering hut from 1930.
• Ragnar Thorseth – Levd liv – Exhibition on the adventurer and expedition leader Ragnar Thorseth, who among other things reached the North Pole across the sea ice.

Founded

2010

Operated by

Stiftelsen Ishavsmuseet Aarvak

Admission & discounts

Café and museum shop in the building.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Café with coffee, cakes and other treats during ordinary opening hours; food for groups can be ordered. The museum shop on the ground floor sells sealskin products and over 100 titles of polar books, among other things.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Premises can be hired for companies, courses and conferences all year round.

Plan your visit