The Handball Town in the Packhouse – brand new exhibition
Nearly 80 people were at the opening of the exhibition 'Handboltabæinn Hafnarfjörð' at the Pakkhúsið on our Folk Museum on Friday. It is open daily from 11 am to 5 pm. Free admission.
The handball town of Hafnarfjörður
Nearly 80 people attended the opening of the themed exhibition „Handball Town of Hafnarfjörður“ at the Packhouse on Friday. „We are tracing the history of handball in the town from the very first match, which took place in 1925,“ says Björn Pétursson, the town's curator of heritage. "Ever since that first match, the town has been the cradle of handball in this country."
The exhibition has already attracted a great deal of attention and a steady stream of visitors to the Packhouse over the weekend. Jón Halldórsson, chairman of the Icelandic Handball Association, opened the exhibition with a short speech. Björn continues.
„We're showing medals from this year's National Championships. Yes, and we've received various items, as we're celebrating 101 years of handball in Hafnarfjörður,“ he says.
We're all familiar with the local rivalry that can develop between the clubs FH and Haukar. But which club would attract more attention at the show?
„With sheer brilliance and meticulous precision, equality is upheld both between FH and Hauka and between men and women. Seconds are measured and differences tallied,“ says Björn, laughing. You can see clips and games at the exhibition.
„This is, on the one hand, clips from old matches and, on the other, an old interview with handball champion Geir Hallsteinsson, as well as footage from RÚV. But we also added the recent FH vs Haukar match to it and show how the town went mad when these teams meet in the play-offs,“ he says.
The idea for the exhibition comes from the staff of the Folk Museum. „We often hold brainstorming sessions and decide which exhibitions will be put on as themed exhibitions each year.".
So who designs the exhibition? „The staff of the Folk Museum design and set up the exhibition. The items are either from the museum's collection, from the societies, or from individuals in the town,“ says Björn.
The museum has now opened for the summer, open daily from 11 am to 5 pm. „I encourage people to come and have a look, we're open every day and entry is free.“
Welcome, everyone, to this fantastic exhibition in Hafnarfjörður.