Designing identities

Narrator
It is easy to think that design is only for people with lots of money and sophisticated tastes. In fact, design is everywhere. The National Museum’s Denise Hagströmer, a senior design curator, explains. 

Denise Hagströmer  
Design is everything that can be used – everything that has a purpose – like the cheese plane that you may have used for slicing cheese at breakfast earlier today.  

Narrator
And design isn’t always a physical object. For example, it might be the sound of a car door closing. Like this Tesla door: 

(The sound of a Tesla car door closing)

Narrator 
Compared to this Volvo door: 
(The sound of a Volvo car door closing)

Narrator  
It’s no coincidence that these car doors sound completely different. The sound is part of each car’s design, its identity.  

In this room you will experience Norwegian and international design from the past 70 years – from 1950 up to today. 

Narrator  
High-profile fairs and exhibitions have always been important for marketing Norwegian design internationally.  

An important turning point was the Milan Triennial in 1954 – a kind of Olympic Games for design. The jury in Milan was particularly enthusiastic about Norway’s herring serving set with its specially-designed components. 

Denise Hagströmer
Norway won many prizes in Milan, including the most prestigious Grand Prix, which was awarded for the herring serving set. 

Narrator  
The herring serving set was designed by Grete Prytz Kittelsen and Arne Korsmo, and you can see it at the start of this room’s collection.  

Denise Hagströmer 
This installation is loaded with meaning. It’s about representing national identity. Herring serving sets are part of Norway’s design history. 

Narrator 
And in the same way that Norway used design to raise its international profile in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, we use our possessions and clothing all the time to tell other people about ourselves.  

Denise Hagströmer  
For example, when you stood in a shop and chose a particular sofa for your living room, or when you got dressed today and perhaps chose one t-shirt or shirt instead of another. You may not have been aware of it, but you made certain choices. And those choices say something about you and how you want to be perceived by other people.  

Narrator
Norwegian design is now in a period where new technology is influencing how things are made. This creates great opportunities.  

The robot AV1, which you can see at the end of this room’s collection, was developed by Snø DesignStudio for the No Isolation company. The small figure contains a camera, a loudspeaker and a microphone. 

Denise Hagströmer  
For example, the robot can allow a child who is suffering from a long-term illness to participate in classes at school. This robot shows that design is so much more than something superficial – design has significance and can change our lives.