Norwegian Seabird Center

Nature does not care - do you?


Nature has succumbed to an ecological fragility, sensitive to the slightest changes. The roots of these changes as well as the consequences of them are highly visible in the Northern hemisphere.  Our modern globalized world is now more fragile as a result of our life style. Do we seek to change it? Do we treasure the conservation of nature? Can we do what it takes to conserve it and rescue the habitat for the species living here and in the same time be able to retain a sustainable lifestyle for the people living in these areas?

On the 15th of June 2012 a new exhibition addressing these matters was opened at Værlandet.

The exhibition at Norwegian Seabird Center shows that the fate of man is tied together with the fate of the seabirds along the coast of Norway. The fact that our birds, our old way of life and our climate are threatened, are intertwined and they all result form that globalized way of life.

The exhibition will be open from 10:30 to 18:00 every day of the week throughout the season (mid June - mid August). For visits rest of the year, please contact the centre.



About the exhibition:



Nature doesn't care about conservation. Human history is merely a blip in geological time. And what happens during that time is of no relevance to Nature itself.

Nature doesn’t care if climate changes or food becomes scarce.

Nature doesn’t care if a glacier is seen in the summer or if a sea bird, feeding on sand eel, lives.

Nature will just regulate itself if new conditions appear and regulate away any species unable to adapt to any new condition or scarcity.

When designing the exhibition the goal was to, by provocative and evocative installations, motivate people to action rather than overload them with information or preach to them with morals. The focus was on interactivity rather than on a passive intake of information.

There are twelve stations where visitors can through intuitive interaction experience thought experiments on what has happened, is happening and might happen in the future based on our current knowledge. It is a meaningful experience where guests are involved to be co-creators through multiple interactions. 

The exhibition was designed by Gagarin ltd. (www.gagarin.is) and Batteri Architects (arkitektar.is) after winning a 1 prize in a competition for the project.