Iceland review - 2002, Page 78

76 ICELAND REVIEW
TRAVEL UPDATE
FROM HORSEWHIPPING
TO HORN HONKING
A new addition to the Skógar Folk Museum, situated under the
Eyjafjöll mountains in the southwest of Iceland, opened in July.
The new building is the home of a museum dedicated to the
transformation of transportation, from horse riding to engine-
driven vehicles.
The museum owns a collection of interesting vehicles from
most time periods: fire engines, jeeps, automobiles, buses and all
kinds of machines. There you will find a truck, which, like most
others, was sent to Iceland as four wheels and a frame, without
a compartment for the driver and passengers. The compartments
were usually constructed by horse-cart craftsmen and welded on
to the frame. In the case of this particular truck, however, the
owner also constructed an add-on compartment for extra pas-
sengers, making his vehicle into a truck by day and a bus by
night. More such interesting vehicles are on display at the muse-
um, including the oldest ship in the south of Iceland, the
Pétursey, and the oldest car in Iceland suitable for exhibition, a
Ford TT from 1917. After a look at the transportation exhibition
and the folk museum itself, visitors can have a light meal or cup
of coffee at the museum’s restaurant. The museum is open dur-
ing weekends from September until spring, and every day of the
week during the summer months. Groups can book visits to the
museum at other times.
Skógar Folk Museum, 861 Hvolsvöllur, tel: (+354) 487-8845,
www.simnet.is/skogasafn, skogasafn@simnet.is
VISITORS’ INTERACTION
Home-grown multimedia specialists Gagarín are receiving well-
deserved praise for their installations at the new visitors’ centre
at Thingvellir park.
“Our aim was to present some of the area’s history, remarkable
geology and nature - all of which are unique for many reasons.
Foremost of these, though, is that a new Icelandic society was
established with the original parliament at Thingvellir, making it
of great significance to Icelanders,” comments Hringur
Hafsteinsson for Gagarín.
Gagarín have produced a variety of multimedia installations
for all kinds of applications and their work has been shown at
international exhibitions in Lisbon (1998) and Hanover (2000).
“Through this, we’ve gained valuable experience in both creat-
ing and presenting information using a variety of media,” adds
Hringur.
“At Thingvellir, we’ve created three touch-screen facilities that
are all linked to large video screens at the entrance to the centre.
This way, a group of people can follow the exhibition even
though only three would be interacting with the screens at any
given time.”
The information is presented with English, Icelandic, German
and Danish language options and that selection will soon be
extended. Once the user has settled on their preferred language,
they can then opt to investigate either the history or nature of
Thingvellir. Under those headings, there are 27 video segments
for people to explore, intermixing old and recent film footage,
photographs, illustrations and drawings. The outcome is an
accessible show, offering something of interest to pretty much
everyone.
The new centre also has a very useful interactive map of the
surrounding area, depicting places of particular interest, walking
paths, deserted farmsteads etc. - all of which help visitors to
become better acquainted with Thingvellir.
And in addition to the interactive screens, there is a very large
rear-projection monitor showing underwater footage from lake
Thingvallavatn, with water streaming down the surface of the
screen. Cool, eh? JMcC
Open daily from 9AM–7PM during September and October, and on week-
ends only from November to March.
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Skógar is Iceland’s premier folk museum.
Thingvellir park now has a brand new interactive visitor’s center.
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