Erika Søfting

Erika Søfting is an ethnologist and works at the Nordlandsmuseet. Here she has worked extensively with the cultural history of northern Norway, and especially with coastal culture and trade history, in addition to museum development. She has, among other things, been manager at Kjerringøy Handelssted, and project manager for the development of Jektefartsmuseet and the exhibition there. She is now head of research and collections in the museum's departments in Bodø, Gildeskål and Meløy. 

Coastal culture and trade have provided contact and connections between the North and the world for hundreds of years. The sea was a highway, not an obstacle, and people on the coast had much contact with other parts of the country, and people from other countries and cultures. 

In her presentation, she will show how hospitality has been important in meetings and contact during the time of the dinghy voyage and at northern Norwegian trading posts. How were "strangers" greeted when they traveled north? What contact did northerners have on dinghy voyages and trading posts south and out into the world? How were they connected with Europe?