High School students
Visits from high school groups to the National Museum are always enjoyable. If successful, discussions can become lively, with students teaching the museum educators as much as they learn from them. The visit includes a guided tour of the National Museum's main exhibition, "The Making of a Nation - Culture and Society in Iceland 1200 Years," from various perspectives that suit the courses the students are taking. The visit and museum education can significantly enrich what is learned from books – seeing is believing.
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General Guided Tour
A guided tour of the National Museum's permanent exhibition, Making of a Nation – Culture and Society in Iceland for 1200 Years. This informative tour provides insight into the history, society, and culture of Icelanders.
Book a school visitNation in the Making: Period 800 – 1600
A museum educator guides the group through the part of the main exhibition that covers the history of Icelandic settlement from the settlement period to the Reformation. The visit enriches and deepens students' understanding of history.
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The Path to Modern Times: Period 1600 – 2000
A museum educator guides the group through the part of the main exhibition that covers the history of Icelandic settlement from the Reformation to modern times. The visit enhances students' awareness of history and society.
Book a school visitFrom Runic Inscriptions to Typewriters: Icelandic Literary History
A museum educator guides the group through the museum's main exhibition, focusing on artifacts related to Icelandic literary history from the beginning of Icelandic settlement to the present. The National Museum has unique artifacts from this period.
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Fit for Fashion: Fashion and Textiles
Throughout the museum's main exhibition, there are artifacts and images that shed light on clothing and fashion of earlier centuries. Textile remnants, jewelry, pictures, and memorial plaques are examined to give insight into the materials and appearance of past clothing. Fashion trends from Europe influenced clothing design in Iceland, although some styles can be considered uniquely Icelandic. If desired, the development of Icelandic women's costumes can be specifically highlighted.
Book a school visitBringing Everyday Life to Life: Arts and Crafts of Earlier Centuries
The museum's main exhibition is explored with a special focus on craftsmanship and arts. Church artifacts, utilitarian objects, and art pieces on display are examined and contextualized in terms of the development of crafts and arts.
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The Museum Trio
The Museum Trio is an educational program where the National Gallery of Iceland, the National Museum of Iceland, and the Icelandic Museum of Natural History collaborate on a cultural literacy project for high schools. Students explore the land and nation, and the society we inhabit, through elements that shape us in society, arts, and nature. This is an interdisciplinary learning experience where the three main museums combine their collections, exhibitions, and knowledge to give students the opportunity to deepen and enhance their cultural and natural literacy. If interested in this course, please make a booking and we will send a syllabus and further information. Note that booking does not equate to a scheduled visit time as the Museum Trio spans a period that needs to be defined and booked in collaboration with all three museums.
Book a school visit20 Years of the Photo Gallery | From the collection
The Photo Gallery was opened in 2004 and has ever since been dedicated to contemporary photography. The museum has held numerous exhibitions with the works of contemporary photographers and after each exhibition the museum has received between two and four works into its collection. That collection provide a glimpse into Icelandic contemporary photography. The exhibition "Photo Gallery for 20 Years" presents a selection of these works.
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Rainbow Thread
The Rainbow Thread is a queer guide through the exhibition The Making of a Nation. It covers the queer history of Iceland. The term queer here refers to gender and sexuality that do not conform to the norms and customs of their time, including people who today might be called trans, intersex, non-binary, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual. The goal of the Rainbow Thread is to show how ideas about gender and sexuality have taken various forms throughout different times, and to encourage asking questions, examining the unsaid, and promoting critical thinking. It is beneficial to give students a simple task after the visit. For example: What surprised me the most? What do I want to know more about? What is missing from the Rainbow Thread?
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