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On the East coast of the West Fjords in Iceland lies the village of Djúpavík, where the former herring factory now houses exhibitions of contemporary art - you can read about it here (link removed as no longer exists). Showing at the factory in August is New Work by Anthony Bacigalupo and Tim L Schafer, and Claus Sterneck's Pictures and Their Sounds. Sigur Rós played in one of the fish oil tanks - you can watch it on their Heima DVD. The former hostel for female workers at the factory is now the friendly and welcoming Hotel Djúpavíkwith live music and the best fish buffets. Fish and Art are not confined to Djúpavík; the design store Kraum in Reykavík has lights made of the skins of whole fish, and fish leather is used for clothing and accessories.
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Unlike Soviet Socialist Realism, where everyone is looking serious and determined, contemporary art in North Korea portrays everyone as full-faced, rosy-cheeked and smiling in honour of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il - at MAK in Vienna, in the summer of 2010. Read about the exhibition here.
Elsewhere on our holidays we came across the former Soviet tropospheric communications base at Galagamacsa, not far from Budapest, which provided communications to Moscow during the years of Soviet occupation.
"How could you tell which telephone on János Kádár's desk was the hotline to Moscow?" "It was the one on which you could only listen, and not speak!" (Kádár was leader of the Hungarian Communist Party from 1956 to 1988).
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Nicola is now a member of the Kuratórium (similar to a board of trustees) of Múzeumok és Látogatók Alapítvány (Foundation for Museums and Visitors). Nicola has had a close working relationship with the foundation since its inception in 2004, and brings knowledge and skills from her experience with museums in the UK.
More information about the Foundation at http://www.mlalapitvany.hu
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The Elektrotechnikai Múzeum at Kazinczy utca 21, VII. Budapest, explains practical applications of electricity from early developments in the 1860s to the present day. With flashes and bangs, the curator demonstrated the 100,000 volts of Ányoss Jedlik's 1873 cascade capacitor battery. The museum offers practical hands-on sessions for primary and secondary school pupils, to make working electrical equipment from household items, such as a Van der Graaf generator involving a Sprite can.
Here's one you can easily try at home: you need a round magnet, a screw, an AA battery and a length of insulated copper wire. The point of the screw is held against the negative terminal of the battery, by the magnet on the head of the screw. Hold one end of the copper wire on the positive terminal of the battery with your finger, and hold the other end of the wire beside the magnet. This causes the screw and the magnet to rotate with increasing speed.
The workshop about the Inspiring Learning for All Framework, Generic Learning Outcomes and General Social Outcomes for the Múzeumok és Látogatók Alapítván was well received. These methods of measuring the impact of museums' work on individuals and communities can be used to further develop museums' programmes and raise their profile with visitors and funders.