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NORDIC LIFE

En flicka och en pojke klädda i samiska Arjeplogskoltar.

Permanent main exhibition

1-4 hrs

Audio guide

Audioguide for children

Level 4

Welcome to our grandest exhibition ever. Explore life and people in the Nordic region over 500 years, set against its stunning nature, changing seasons and real-life stories from the Nordiska museet collections and archives.

Ett starkt blått rum med tapet av trädkronor och slingrande blad, längst bort skymtar en monter med föremål.
Detail from the 018th century part of the exhibition. Photo: Emil Fagander /Nordiska museet
Ett starkt blått rum med tapet av trädkronor och slingrande blad, längst bort skymtar en monter med föremål.
Detail from the 18th century part of the exhibition. Foto: Hendrik Zeitler/ Nordiska museet

How has the Nordic Region Taken Shape, and Who lives here?

The exhibition Nordic Life, allows you to explore how culture and life in the Nordic region have been shaped and reshaped through interactions between people, nature, and climate. What does nature mean to the people? What do families and homes look like? What do Nordic people believe in, dream about, fear, and find solace in?

We recommend that you view the exhibition with our audio guide, which can be downloaded to your own phone.

You can read all the exhibition texts and screens directly on your phone.

En skyltdocka med en pigas klänning i halvylle och sjal, framför dockan syns många vardagsföremål ur vardagslivet, bonader och mönstrade vävda textilier, allt har starka färger i rött, gult och lila.
Ett svart rum med växtrankor i taket, målningar och föremål. Mitt i rummet en skärm med en film om ett personöde.

The most beautiful exhibition I have seen in Sweden

Swedish Radio

Explore 500 Years Through Four Seasons

As you enter the exhibition, it’s the early 1500s and cold midwinter in the forest. Continue to villages and towns through spring and summer, encountering individuals from various times, places, and of different ages and social classes whose life stories leave traces in our collections and archives.

As you approach the end of the exhibition, it’s late autumn. You’ve reached present day and can witness how contemporary Nordic people think and live. And finally, you stand at the edge of a future forest.

Ett snövitt rum med en vinklad monter med rvintergryningsljus fylld med samiska föremål, en stor målning av Margareta Vasa och i taket hänger scenografi av gnistrande istappar.
Ett omslutande rum vars tapet och väggar föreställer grönska och växtlighet, i mitten en portal och slingrande gång som leder förbi montrar med föremål från 1700-talet.
En gång med montrar på båda sidor visar föremål och kläder från 1970-talet, bland annat vintersportutrustning och vanliga husgeråd i plast.

Magnificent

Svenska Dagbladet
En gång genom ett starkt rött rum med montrar med föremål och skärmar med filmscener om två av utställningens personöden.
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Två bilder i en: till vänster ett hästkranium och en soldathjälm på en glasskiva, till höger en cylinder med målningar, banderoller, gitarr och scenografi i form av mossbeklädda stenbumlingar.

Interactive Experience

You can actively participate in history through the interactive parts of the exhibition. Play a role in a bustling 17th-century city, become a voice in the 18th-century freedom of the press, experience 19th-century coffee culture, and leave your mark in the future forest.

Audio guide for Adults and Children

Take a guided tour through the exhibition with our audioguide, blending storytelling with dramatized scenes directly on your phone. We have two versions of the audioguide:

  • For adults and teenagers (in English or Swedish)
  • For children aged 8–12 (in Swedish)
  • The playtime is approximately 50 minutes
  • Download the audioguide for free to your phone!

Nordic Life on Your phone

You can read all the exhibition texts and screens directly on your phone. During the visit, anywhere, anytime.

En dödskalle med ett pärldiadem ligger på en bädd av musselskal.

Highlights

1

1500s: The Finn settlement

En stor monter har en ram som ser ut som flätat näver och vita snöiga grenar växer ut ur den, innanför glaset finns mängder av föremål i näver: skor och stövlar, redskap, en hatt, korgar och askar.

1

1500s: The Finn settlement

Tens of thousands of Finnish-speaking slash-and-burn farmers leave Savonia. On the Swedish, they eventually come to be referred to as Forest Finns. The Forest Finns are skilled in birch bark craft. Marvel at a large collection of utilitarian objects

Foto: Hendrik Zeitler / Nordiska museet

2

1600s: The Noble estate

Ett stort rum 1600-talsstil i kallt ljus, i en monter syns påkostade målningar, smycken, möbler och andra föremål.

2

1600s: The Noble estate

The nobility is growing. Through the wars, ennobled officers come into contact with the luxury and splendor of Europe’s princely houses. They want to live like the European princes. Discover war trophies, art, and modern valuables that the Swedish nobility use to showcase their power and status.

Foto: Hendrik Zeitler / Nordiska museet

3

1700s: A New kind of Home

Ett ljust utställningsrum med massor av föremål från 1700-talet. I fonden en tapet som föreställer äppelblom i närbild.

3

1700s: A New kind of Home

Goods are shipped across the world’s seas to the Nordic countries. Those who can afford it can enjoy exotic tastes, fashions, and materials. The bourgeoisie develop a new lifestyle with comfortable furniture, board games, reading aloud, and tea drinking. Get a sense of their everyday life here.

Foto: Hendrik Zeitler / Nordiska museet

4

1800s: The Village and People of the Fields

Ett starkt rött rum med en scenografi med träribbor, en lång monter med textilföremål och slöjdhantverk, två dockor i färgstarka folkdräkter, i fonden ett böljande sädesfält.

4

1800s: The Village and People of the Fields

Handicrafts are ongoing in the agrarian society. It is essential to be able to produce textiles, tools, and furniture for household needs. In many households, handicrafts are vital for sustenance. Discover the work of maids and farmhands.

Foto: Hendrik Zeitler / Nordiska museet

5

1900s: The Wellfare State

En monter som liknar ett vardagsrum från 1970-talet med bokhylla, orange plastfåtölj, bilder på väggarna och mängder av vardagsföremål som köks- och hushållsprylar, matförpackningar och LP-skivor.

5

1900s: The Wellfare State

Between 1965 and 1975, one million apartments were built in Sweden, featuring modern kitchens and bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and children’s rooms. Take a peek into Three Rooms and a Kitchen.

Foto: Hendrik Zeitler / Nordiska museet

A pure feast for the eyes

/ Utställningskritik

An Epic Tale based on the Nordiska museet Collections

Nordic Life is Nordiska museet’s largest exhibition ever. An epic and visual presentation of Nordic cultural history built on the real objects and stories collected by the museum during 150 years.

Nordic Life is produced by Nordiska museet in collaboration with experts from universities and museums in Sweden and the Nordic region, and designed by MUSEEA.

Visit options

Take a guided tour through the exhibition with our audio guide, blending storytelling with dramatized scenes directly on your phone. (Available in English and Swedish, approximately 50 minutes). We recommend bringing your own head phones.

You can read all the exhibition texts and screens directly on your phone.

Download our Audio guide to your phone. Available in English or Swedish. We recommend bringing your own head phones.

Watch the film sequences where you get to encounter 22 real life-stories documented in the museum’s collections. You’ll encounter individuals who live or have lived in the Nordic region in reality.

You can read all the exhibition texts and screens directly on your phone.

Have a coffee in the restaurant or the café in our back yard.