Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries

The Reykjavík Maritime Museum opened their new permanent exhibition in June this year. The exhibition is intended to entertain and educate, and to be equally of interest to those familiar with the fisheries and their history, and those who have no experience of the sea. Sæplast tubs play a big part of the exhibition. 

According to the website, the exhibition Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries at the Reykjavík Maritime Museum is about the history of the Icelandic fisheries, from the time when rowing boats gave way to large fishing vessels in the late 19^th century, through to the 21^st century. This rich history is told from the perspective of Iceland’s biggest fishing port, Reykjavík. The Maritime Museum’s setting is an appropriate one, as the building once housed a flourishing fish factory.

The ambitious exhibition design has been handled by Amsterdam-based Kossmann.dejong. The ambiance is inspired by that of a fish processing and freezing plant, with tiled walls, tubs and plastic pallets. Diverse objects in the Reykjavík City Museum collections have an important role in the exhibition. They are of all shapes and sizes, from the smallest hook and fish tag, to massive mechanised fish skinners and herring brailers.

Sæplast was established in 1984 and has been in the forefront in the wold in the design and production of insulated plastic containers. During the first years, the company mostly served customers in the fishing industry but since then other branches of the food industry have brought the products of Sæplast into use. Today, Sæplast has three factories, in Iceland, in New Brunswick in Canada and in Spain.  

 Pictures from the exhibition