2025 – the eventful «year before the year».
Every year, we talk about when Blaafarveværket opens for the season. It is a special day for all of us and a sure sign that summer is here. But before this day in May, when the sun almost always shines, a lot of work is done to make sure that Blaafarveværket, Haugfoss, Nyfossum, the Kittelsen Museum and the Cobalt Mines shine. The physical work starts when we close our doors in October, while the planning for the new season is already underway when we open in the spring.
2025 was an eventful year in which we had projects in all parts of the museum. The winter is put to good use by the administration, kitchen staff and craftsmen. The Skuterudåsen waterways have been a project we have been working on for three years. The winter months have been put to good use clearing the forest and working to uncover the cultural heritage sites in the fantastic hiking area that stretches from Nordgruvene down to Stolldammen by Ludwig Eugen Stoll.
At the same time, Doktorgården at Nymoen has been well cared for. Not everything is visible from the outside, but the façade has also been given a facelift. We are also working on the garden and outdoor areas, where there is much to be done. Among other things, the apple orchard received its first pruning in many years in 2025.
This year we were lucky and got an early spring. It was perfect timing as we were about to start this year's biggest project, «Arsenic House» at Blaafarveværket. The reconstruction of the old calcination hut that stood next to the Arsenic Tower during its operating period has been on the drawing board for quite some time, and this year the ground was broken. The first milestone was to cast the foundation before the season opened, and we managed to do that. There are certain challenges when building a new house in the middle of an open museum with popular park areas on all sides. But at the same time, you get the opportunity to let the public follow the process. A process that involves our own craftsmen building houses with locally sourced timber, cut with our own equipment and erected using old-fashioned building techniques. No wonder our guests have been standing outside the construction fences asking questions all summer.
Our art exhibitions have become an institution in themselves, and this summer's exhibition at Blaafarveværket was set to be a real talking point! «Sunshine painter Hans Dahl» was unknown to many, and in his day he was disliked by his fellow artists and the art world. But this summer at Blaafarveværket showed that Dahl's fjords, mountains, girls in traditional costumes and goats in flower meadows were exactly what people wanted to see. Rarely have we received more praise from the public for an exhibition, helped along by Frode Skag Storheim's biography of Dahl, his musical lectures and the enthusiastic quest for even more knowledge about the painter from Balestrand.
The timber barn at Nyfossum is not forgotten when we talk about exhibitions, and this year's anniversary exhibition for Norwegian Felt Makers was a celebration of form and colour. We surround ourselves with wool every day, but experiencing what can be created with wool and colours was an experience that was fantastically received by our visitors.
Before the summer season, we invited the press to chat with director Tone Sinding Steinsvik. She had a gift for our guests that she wanted to tell us about. The gift was to remove the entrance fee at both Nyfossum and the Kittelsen Museum at the Cobalt Mines. Was it well received? Absolutely! It has been fun to see how the local population and other guests this summer have started to use these parts of the museum as meeting places. The garden at Nyfossum is perfect for a quiet cup of coffee and a pleasant chat in green and flowering surroundings. The Kittelsen Museum, with the fairy-tale artist's whimsical trolls, humorous characters and nature poetry, is a place where you will discover new details every time you visit. Our collection at the Kittelsen Museum is constantly growing, and with the long-term deposit of his iconic series «Tirilil Tove», 2025 became the year of Kittelsen at the Kittelsen Museum. The gallery on the lower floor was dedicated to the twelve pictures and the story behind them, to the delight of us all.
The EuChemS Landmark Award 2023 was awarded to Blaafarveværket, and at a symposium in Glasshytten on 21 June this year, we saw the visible proof. But what exactly is this? The European Chemical Society is a European organisation that promotes research and technical work in the field of chemistry. Together with the Norwegian Chemical Society, it was a brilliant day with visitors and speakers from all over Europe. The award was presented to Blaafarveværket for its unique role in the chemical cobalt industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a great honour for us as a museum to receive this recognition on behalf of the entrepreneurs who started the industrial adventure here after the discovery of cobalt in 1772..
Speaking of the discovery in 1772. The action that set in motion a «circus» few could have imagined, and which in just under three years would culminate in the official founding of a Blaafarveværk in 1776. This has been the basis for an important part of the aforementioned «Skuterudåsen's waterways». So when we were able to officially open this new hiking area in September, with generous support from Sparebankstiftelsen Modum, it was very fitting that we were able to gather a couple of hundred attendees who joined us on a tour of the discovery site at Nordgruvene. Here, director Tone Sinding Steinsvik was proud to show off twelve ore lumps that were found under the floor remains of one of the earliest houses built at the Koboltgruvene mines.
When 1776 is mentioned, we can highlight part of the headline, «the year before the year» and gin Those of you reading this, here's a little task for you. What will happen in 2026? The answer, of course, is that we will be celebrating our 250th anniversary. Are we looking forward to it? Will those of you who visit us next year notice that there is «something extra»? Will we have exciting art exhibitions? The answer to these questions is a resounding YES. 9 May 2026 is the date when Blaafarveværket opens for the season, and by then we will be presenting lots of fun things that will be happening during the anniversary year, including the opening of Arsenikkens hus!
Before that, we have ended the year with a pre-Christmas opening at Blaafarveværket and Haugfoss for the 23rd year in a row. Although the little snow we have had has been a bit sporadic, we hope and believe that we have managed to create a Christmas atmosphere again this year. For us, the Christmas spirit creeps in as early as October when the Christmas baking begins in the commercial kitchen.
We will take all the lovely feedback we receive about the food and atmosphere here with us into Christmas and look forward to 2026, which will be a special and spectacular year at Blaafarveværket! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope you will all join us in celebrating our 250th anniversary in 2026.
