skrimslasetrid monster museum

Went to visit the Monster museum of Bíldudlalur. Did not know what to expect on my arrival. Seeing the house from the outside which i think is a work of art how it is painted as a endless Kraken changed my mind right a way. After going through the exhibition I became a believer in these hidden creatures. It´s a must see in the south West fords.

I was traveling with a medievalist who's interested in medieval notions of the human and other-than-human, so we had a professional/avocational reason for being there; the scholar enjoyed himself very much. Apart from that, we both have an interest in small cultural/regional museums, in observing curatorial styles and choices in addition to the merits of the collections.As a non-specialist, I really enjoyed the museum. I think some people might expect the museum to have a kind of medieval torture/Madame Tussaud's/Ripley's BION affect, but that's not what's going on here. This is a Wunderkammer, a Cabinet of Wonders or Curiosities, set up in the style of a nineteenth century natural history museum, in the spirit of the scientific and aesthetic inquiries of that century, with atmospheric dioramas, lighting, and inventive uses of turn-of-the-century technology. Steampunk, if you will, but moving beyond that, with its use of video, interactive map table, and library with up-to-date work. You can visit this museum not just to see a sea monster museum, but to see what a century of museum curation can say about a sea monster museum. It's a meta experience, made with love (and some awesome local stories). Plus a lovely bright cafe, and a welcoming staffer willing to engage with you conversationally or leave you alone as you will!I'm not impressed by the complaints about the price. Small community-based businesses--particularly ones with artistic or cultural bents--can't survive on nothing. This is a country where a reel of dental floss costs $10 (by the current exchange), and you're complaining about $10 admission to a labor of love?This isn't, perhaps, a museum for everybody. But I think that it should be assessed on its merits, which are considerable, and with an eye toward the aesthetic being presented, not the one expected.

the content here is stetched pretty thinly for 1,000 ISK: the main exhibit is a documentary on a repeat loop interviewing local people about their experiences of 'sea monsters'. there are also snippets of other documentaries listing other famous sea monsters (loch ness, lake Baikal, mermaids etc) but it literally lists them without much further commentary. aside from that there a couple of big models (quite good fun, but photography forbidden so not as fun as it could be),a map of sightings around westfjordland, and some good (and quite witty) mini models of some of the local stories (the one of the cow and 2 headed claf was the best bit). It could be so much better with just a few exhibition boards with photos/sightings, some theories and debunking etc etc. I think it is quite new however, so hopefully they'll build on it.

This quite small (and, expensive, at 1000 ISK/adult (kids free)) museum starts off well enough with a guy in subtlety appropriate attire, glasses and voice introducing you to the topic and the place. But the content is contrived (as is the topic), and the size of the place quite small.Don't bother visiting.