Paper short abstract:

The paper will draw on interviews with museum professionals in Norway to discuss disseminations of traditional Sámi blood food within a heritage context. How is blood food understood within a museum setting? To whom might it appear as liminal? How can such dissemination contribute to its survival?

Paper long abstract:

Food can be seen as central to what has been termed a sensory revolution within the humanities and social studies during the last three decades. This has also made its mark within museums which have, during the twenty-first century, received critique for privileging a single-sensory visitor experience based predominantly on sight. Consequently, multisensory engagements are increasingly seen as important in many museums. In alignment with this, many museums use food as an important means of attracting visitors, where the presentation and sharing of more everyday practices such as food and foodways is seen as important because it is “alive”, it is more a cultural practice than “still heritage”.

This paper will discuss the role food can play as heritage within a museum setting through the example of traditional Sámi blood food and its current employment in heritage contexts. Within traditional Sámi foodways different dishes based on blood have been important both in terms of resource utilization and nutrition, as well as a cultural marker. However, this specific cuisine is now under threat of disappearing. Drawing on interviews with museum professionals from Norwegian museums focusing on Sámi heritage, this paper will explore the dissemination of traditional Sámi blood food, asking: how is food such as blood food understood within a museum setting, and to whom might it appear as liminal? How can museum dissemination contribute to its survival? And, how might it be employed to instigate multi-sensory and critical visitor experiences?