Hanna Mellemsether (b. 1959), based in Trondheim (Trøndelag). Mellemsether is a historian and former head department at Museene Arven. She holds a PhD in History from NTNU, has served as project leader for the Norwegian Deaf Museum, and was senior advisor in the R/D department of Museums in Sør-Trøndelag (MiST). The societal relevance of cultural institutions is a particular focus area for her, and she is the author of the book “Bare gjør det!” (2017), which addresses how museums can accommodate people with various needs, prerequisites, and backgrounds. Mellemsether has extensive experience from national and international museum work. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Arts Council Norway‘s expert committee for cross-sectoral schemes, and she is a former member of the expert committee for cultural heritage conservation.
Hanna Mellemsether’s reflections on the META-MUSEUM:
“META-MUSEUM is an exciting project that I believe will have real significance for the cultural heritage and museum sector. What makes it particularly valuable is the genuine cross-disciplinary collaboration across multiple disciplins, combining humanistic inquiry, social science research, and technological approaches. This combination promises to generate knowledge that museum professionals; such as curators, exhibition developers, and educators alike, will find genuinely useful in their everyday practice.
I am especially drawn to the project’s co-creative approach. Co-creation plays a crucial role in the democratisation of cultural heritage, shifting the focus from institutional authority to shared meaning-making. By placing empathy and emotional engagement at the centre of how audiences encounter cultural heritage, the project acknowledges that people’s lived experiences, reflections, and interpretations are not peripheral, but central to understanding why cultural heritage matters. In particular, I believe the findings could significantly contribute to accessibility in museums, ensuring that cultural heritage is welcoming and meaningful for all visitors, regardless of background, ability, or prior experience.
My hope is that the findings from META-MUSEUM can be communicated in a practical and accessible way, so that they become a useful tool not only for researchers, but for museum professionals working on the ground. If the insights can be translated into concrete guidelines for exhibition design, interpretation, and audience engagement, the project has the potential to make a lasting contribution to how museums relate to and work with their communities.”