Project UNESCO World Heritage Status

1. Background for Unesco application

Blaafarveværket represents a cultural history that has almost been lost, but which has been preserved both physically and through documentation and communication work. The mill's historical operation ended in 1926, and the property has since fallen into disrepair. The modern history of the Blaafarveværket started in 1968 when Kjell Rasmus Steinsvik discovered the property and its condition and established the Modums Blaafarveværk - bygdemuseum Modum Foundation (hereafter: "Blaafarveværket") with the aim of protecting the cultural and industrial history in line with the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Mr and Mrs Steinsvik have devoted their life's work to preserving, restoring and communicating the history of Blaafarveværket. An important part of the Foundation's role is to make the cultural heritage accessible and accessible to as many people as possible across generations and to safeguard this important part of Norwegian cultural and industrial history for the future, an endeavour that results in new projects and developments every single year. Since 2000, Tone Sinding Steinsvik, born in 1941, has been the driving force behind the organisation. With the Unesco application, Blaafarveværket is preparing for the future to ensure that the cultural heritage is preserved further, regardless of enthusiasts. World Heritage status will place a greater obligation on society and the public sector to follow up and safeguard Blaafarveværket.

The organisation is already a recognised museum and one of Norway's most visited tourist attractions.

There is a significant national and international cultural heritage that must be safeguarded so that the knowledge and commitment that Mr and Mrs Steinsvik have had for Blaafarveværket over 54 years is not lost, but is managed further. The significance of Blaafarveværket has already been emphasised through several remarks both nationally and internationally:

- The Museum Association named Blaafarveværket Museum of the Year in 2018.

- Director Tone Sinding Steinsvik received the EU Cultural Heritage Prize/Europe Norstra Award 2018. Among the 29 award winners, Steinsvik, along with six others, was awarded the prestigious "Grand Prix" award for special achievement.

- In the autumn of 2018, NRK showed the documentary "A little madness and a lot of enthusiasm" about Blaafarveværket's 50 years as a museum. Two more films are planned, both produced by Sverre Krüger. One film (approx. 10 minutes) about the discovery of cobalt and the start of mining in the 1770s. The second film (approx. 30 minutes) deals with industrial history and cultural protection history, more precisely the broad national and international significance of the cobalt discovery and the blue colour from Blaafarveværket. It also focuses on the Unesco application and the ongoing process.

This project will document how Blaafarveværket has an important social value both from a cultural-historical perspective and from a contemporary and future perspective. Consequently, the significance a listing can have on the local community and society as a whole, as well as the cultural ripple effects it provides.

The report goes on to outline the history of the Blaafarveværk, its operations today and definitions of its property. It then discusses UNESCO's requirements and proposes a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and a Statement of Integrity and Authenticity.

2. Cultural-historical framework

Blaafarveværket consists of a number of cultural heritage sites that convey an important phase in Norwegian industrial history. In the 1840s, the plant was Norway's largest mining operation with significant exports to the world in general and Europe in particular. The Erzgebirge & Krušnohoří mining region writes the following about Blaafarveværket in its nomination document for the UNESCO World Heritage List from 2019 (translated): "In terms of smelting and mining heritage, 'Ore mountains' and Modum are complementary. Modum's Blaafarveværket was one of the most technologically advanced companies in the mid-19th century, and is one of the best-preserved technological monuments in Norway. The property consists of buildings from smelting production, former directors' residences, workers' residences and hydropower systems at Haugfossen.

In addition, it consists of both open-cast and underground cobalt mines (open-cast and underground). Modum is a well-preserved cobalt mining and smelting operation, particularly from the 19th century, in comparison to the older (16th to 19th century) cobalt-related mines in the 'Ore Mountains'."

Since 2019, Blaafarveværket has been involved in an interdisciplinary and transnational research collaboration, led by Prof. Dr Andrew Shortland from Cranfield University, England with partners from M+museum (China), Harvard Art Museum (USA), Leiden University (Netherlands), KU Leuven (Belgium) and CNRS (France). Blaafarveværket has one of the few known, preserved collections of well-documented cobalt pigments, and the Foundation's collection is unique in this respect. Submission of these pigment samples is part of the collaboration.

During 2019-2021, several samples of the Foundation's cobalt pigments were sent to laboratories in Belgium, England and France. The aim of the analysis work is to publish the findings in research articles and use the analysis results in further research. Lasse Bjørnland is responsible for supplementing analysis findings with historical source material.

In an interview on 21 May 2022, Hanna Geiran, Director of Antiquities, stated the following:

"It [Blaafarveværket] is a very, very important place in Norwegian history - and also international history. [...] It was long forgotten, this industrial adventure. It has been highlighted, and the fact that we are celebrating the discovery of the cobalt is incredibly interesting - and it's important that more people learn about it."

Director of Antiquities Hanna Geirang, 21 May 2022

In the interview, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage emphasised the importance of the Steinsvik couple's work and called the Blaafarve Power Station a pioneering example for everyone in cultural heritage conservation when it comes to protection in use and value creation, but also the development of cultural environments and cultural heritage.

3. Blaafarveværket today

Today, Blaafarveværket is a museum of mining history, art and cultural history, which over 50 years, under the visionary leadership of Mr and Mrs Steinsvik, has collected and restored the buildings to illustrate the legacy of Blaafarveværket's industrial activities and its cultural-historical era. The work has been guided by the use of traditional craft techniques and the reuse of materials. The property has been activated and made accessible in accordance with the principles of protection through use, as Norway is obliged to do under the UNESCO Convention. Local, homemade food is served on cobalt blue crockery in the museum's historic buildings where guests can enjoy refreshments in the middle of the cultural landscape. By balancing commercial operations with communication, the museum enables the organisation of cultural heritage for the general public.

At the Blaafarve mill itself we find Glass cabin, Norway's largest building built in moulded timber from 1779. The building currently houses the exhibition "Blåfarvefabrikken - fra grått til blått" in the South Room. The North Hall is suitable for catering and meetings, and the Great Hall for various events.

At Værket we also find The Barrelmaker's Inn which used to be a cooper's workshop and forge. Today it is used as a café with catering. Blaafarveværket also hosts annual art exhibitions, and the site in general serves as a meeting point for art and culture. The colour mill "Mølla", originally a quartz pottery, is located next to Glasshytta and traditionally the molten glass was finely crushed into blue colour pigment in this building. Today, the building is a shop for cobalt products. Further down the site we find a listed arsenic refinery.

At Haugfoss, the café and shops are housed in 18th-century buildings right next to the mighty Haugfossen waterfall - the driving force behind the historic Blaafarveværk. Thranestua Café is the old home of Marcus Thrane, former tutor to cabin master Gustav Roscher's children, who moved to Haugfoss in the 1980s. Today there is a café and restaurant on site. The other buildings are used as shops.

Nyfossum is the home of director Friedrich Roscher from 1826. The house is a museum in its own right, but also houses an art exhibition by Ida Lorentzen. In the area we also find a timber barn, staff shop and reconstructed carriage shed. A short distance from Nyfossum we find the Nymoen area, which consists of original workers' housing and a school building from 1784. Today it functions as an open but unmanned museum.

The cobalt mines form the basis of the entire Blaafarveværk operation and are located 8 kilometres from the plant itself. Today, there is a large museum area with guided tours in the mountains, but also areas for exploring on your own. Visitors can walk in the cultural landscape and get up close to opencast mines, rock piles and mines. Marketenteriet, Bergmesterstuen and The sheath house are reconstructed buildings on original foundations and are the three mining museums in the area. The Kittelsen Museum houses Norway's largest presentation of Theodor Kittelsen. There is also catering and sales at the mines in Gruvekroa. Skuterudflata serves as an extension of the Cobalt Mines, representing the mining community, through an original workers' housing complex and associated school building that grew around the operation. Today it serves as an open but unmanned part of the museum.

4. Contemporary value - value for Modum

Blaafarveværket has been true to its social obligation and responsibility to protect cultural heritage and ensure its continued existence. This in itself has great contemporary value for Modum and local identity. It is a pioneer in independent and self-financed cultural preservation and Modum's largest workplace for young people. The museum serves local food, often using locally produced ingredients, and has thus further developed and organised the cultural heritage and made it accessible to the general public. World Heritage status can lead to further positive development of Modum and will also benefit the local population both through local business opportunities, but also local belonging and community. Local businesses depend on a flow of people, and a World Heritage Site in Modum can contribute positively to such traffic and thus also the local economy. In addition, it's a unique opportunity to bring the local population together as a community and create local pride in the cultural heritage. If the people in the village can get a new connection to Blaafarveværket and understand the global value the site represents, it can contribute to the further preservation of Blaafarveværket.

For many people in Modum, Blaafarveværket is an important first workplace. Young people in the area get to try their hand at working life and experience challenge and mastery for the first time, an experience they take with them to other companies in the municipality. Kristine Helskog, a student from Modum, was given the opportunity to try out the role of project coordinator during the drafting of the feasibility report, a role she mastered very well and gained valuable experience that she will take with her.

Blaafarveværket has always been keen to make the old cultural landscape accessible to the general public. The area around the works itself is well developed and organised so that the general public can use the area for recreation and enjoyment, with parks, children's play areas, hiking trails and cafés. Around the mine, on Skuterudåsen, Blaafarveværket has several ongoing projects to make the area even more accessible to both visitors and the local population. The aim is to improve the accessibility of Skuterudåsen, which includes clearing and restoring the old waterways from the Hansedammen dams (ca. 1840/the major period of operation) down to the mine pit and down to Snarumselven (the crushed stone works) and Nordgruvetjern (ca. 1776/the beginning), where recreational facilities will be created. Just below the pond is Koboltkoia, a tourist association cabin owned by Blaafarveværket and operated by DNT Drammen og omegn. The waterways continue all the way down to the workers' housing complex at Skuterudflata, through a row of crushed stone works. For Blaafarveværket, the new projects are also intended to complement Blaafarveværket's existing offering at Skuterudåsen with the mining museum, café and Kittelsen Museum.

Other possible future projects include plans for a new service centre and warming rooms for the general public, facilitation of campervan parking with the necessary infrastructure, development of major cultural events and the ploughing of parts of the road network for winter walks. All of these projects are planned with a neutral environmental and cultural preservation footprint, without any change to the existing use of Skuterudåsen as outlying land for the farms in the valley.

Volunteerism is a mainstay in the work of developing and improving Blaafarveværket as a whole. A new pillar, in order to be able to continue this development into the future, is UNESCO World Heritage status. World Heritage status will commit, not only nationally but internationally, to the continued development of this important part of Modum municipality when today's enthusiasts pass on the baton.

5. Briefly about the further process and UNESCO's requirements

Inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List requires that the nominated property represents cultural heritage that is invaluable and irreplaceable and has outstanding universal value as stated in UNESCO's guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Blaafarveværket fulfils all the conditions, which are described in more detail in the feasibility report submitted to the Directorate for Cultural Heritage.

5.1 Organisational structure in the project

Blaafarveværket carried out a feasibility study from June 2022 to December 2022 and submitted a feasibility report to the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in January 2023. The project is run by the Blaafarveværket's own organisation and with its own resources. The purpose of running the project through its own organisation is to ensure that knowledge is transferred within the organisation and to ensure ownership of the project throughout the organisation.

The aim of the feasibility study was to establish a basis for the work on the application for World Heritage status and to secure a place on Norway's tentative list, which is mandatory for further nomination to UNESCO. The feasibility study initiated the process of preparing a nomination document and identifying essential factors for the success of this document. These factors include clarifying the Blaafarveværket's position in relation to UNESCO's criteria for World Heritage status, establishing internal support within the organisation, the local population and nationally, as well as engaging the National Heritage Board and the Ministry to promote the Norwegian UNESCO application for Blaafarveværket.

5.2 Financing

Blaafarveværket provides a large proportion of its working capacity and funding from its own resources. Other support is being sought from private organisations, including the Savings Bank Foundation. Blaafarveværket's board has set aside funds for the project.

5.3 Timeline

June 2022 - 31 December 2022: Pre-project

1 January 2023: Start of detailed project.