Hip Viking Heritage

Sindbæk has seen the new Viking-themed exhibitions in Stockholm and Copenhagen and concludes, after a brief analysis, that they are expressions of populism, created out of a will to meet consumerism and international tourism. He detects lurking danger here: museums are ‘repositories of accumulated knowledge, study, evidence’ (Sindbæk 2022:21) – to embrace anti-elite populism, he suggests, puts them in a precarious position, treading a perilous path to the future. I have seen these exhibitions myself, and share some of Sindbæk’s concerns, both about the exhibitions and regarding wider developments in major museums. However, I think some of his conclusions may be questioned, while I wish to expand a little on other parts. In my opinion, what is most lacking in both exhibitions is overall context and story. Both seemed to me to be compilations of the finest Viking Age artefacts from each museum rather than objects selected to tell a (new? urgent? important?) story of the Viking Age based on latest finds and results from archaeology and history. Instead of providing perspective and story, the museums seem to have put all the traditional highlights on display, letting the story come second. What is the message? What do they want to say to me as a visitor on a more profound level? Indeed, in concurrence with Sindbæk, the lack of clear message and story may be an expression of the museum having capitulated from a position of telling the story, towards letting the visitor create her own meaning out of the bits and pieces served, while not challenging prejudice or expanding a general frame of reference.