Things to do in Mandal, Southern Norway: The Best Museums

The town museum is located in a magnificent merchant’s house built in 1805. The museum is home to southern Norway’s largest exhibition on fish, which shows how techniques and equipment have developed over time in the area. The museum also has its own art collection, including Norway’s largest public collection of works by Amaldus Nielsen, probably the most famous artist from southern Norway. There are also works by other local artists such as Adolph Tidemand, Olaf Isaachsen and Gustav Vigeland. You may also vistit the childhood home of the artists Gustav and Emanuel Vigeland at Vigeland Hus in Mandal, only some minutes walk from Mandal museum. The museum houses a worksohop and a small sculpture garden.

The factory was built in 1894, and has been designated a national monument to the textile industry in Norway. Today the factory is a living museum with its own power station, dye house, spinning mill, weaving mill and finishing plant. If you go on a guided tour, you will be able to see the various machines and production prosesses in action. In the summer season, from 15.6-20.8 Guided tours of the factory starts at 11 a.M., 1 And 3 pm. Wool workshop for children starts at 2 pm. Our shop, with products produced at the factory, is open Monday to Friday 11-15.

Across the river from the centre of Mandal, is an area known as Nedre Malmo. It is on its way to becoming the cultural heart of Mandal and the artistic individuals occupying the buildings on the site of an old furniture factory are leading the way. There are exhibitions, concerts and theme days in the cafe throughout the year. During summer the courtyard is a peaceful oasis by day and an atmospheric venue for concerts in the evening. Visitors are welcome at 'Kulturfabrikken' and those workshops which are open to the public (ceramicist Kristin Antonsen bronze moulder Totto Eide and photographers oystein Ramstad and Odd Arne Nomedal).

The childhood home of the artists Gustav and Emanuel Vigeland. Gustav Vigeland is perhaps the more famous of the brothers, having produced the sculptures for the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. Their childhood home is typical of craftsmen’s houses in “old Mandal”, and a guided tour will give you a unique insight into the childhood and artistic development of the brothers.

The artist Mona Svaland's studio is situated in Mandal city centre. Here she exhibits her oil paintings produced on flax canvases.

Paintings, collages, sculptures and textiles. Gallery and workshop in Edda’s barn at Holmesland in Holum, just outside Mandal. Special summer exhibition to be confirmed.

The applied art centre at Sava houses temporary exhibitions throughout the year, exhibiting work by the 50 members of the centre. The premises are more than 100 years old, and have been restored into an exciting space. There is a weaving room, frame workshop, art studio and furniture restoration workshop, and wood carving, handicrafts and old painting techniques are also represented at the complex.