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= Safnahús Borgarfjarðar - Borgarnes Museum = The Safnahús Borgarfjarðar is a civilization museum that is located centrally in Borgarnes Iceland. It displays cultural artifacts, photos, bird life and regional art. It is the main cultural hub for the community and houses two permanent exhibitions and the local library. The permanent exhibitions were designed by artist Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson, the exhibition consists of severeal different components. There is a an entrance fee for the permanent exhibition however the rotating exhibitions are free to the public. The Safnahús Borgarfjarðar art exhibition section of the museum and library are the only sheltered locations in Borgarnes which are free and accessible to the public during weekdays. The museum has received recent media attention from the Reykjavik Grapevine and is regarded as the mainstay of cultural identity for the denizens of Borgarnes.

Establishing the Arts in Borgarnes
The city museum was one of Iceland's first collections to receive the formal recognition of the Saga Council in (2013). All the items in the collection in recent years are registered with Sarp, and the museum staff is working to transfer older registrations from Filemaker to Sarp.

Preservation of culture and the arts
''Recent proposals suggest the resettlement and division of the Safnahús collections be distributed to different hamlets. A town meeting has been suggested to consider these suggestions.'' Opposition and concern among the denizens about their cultural heritage are expressed in recent articles. This article in Iceland's largest English language and semi - political review Reykjavik Grapevine features their collection. The museum is the only exhibition space within 69 kilometers for local or visiting artist to present their art. The museum also functions as a location for book readings, lectures and workshops.

Renovation of the Museum
Since 2014 the city has invested improvement of the exterior of the building, in addition to painting the entire structure they have added large signs to make the museum more visible and attractive.

History
Around 1960 it is thought to be the beginning of the museum. The initiator was Haukur Jörundsson, a teacher in Hvanneyri and his successors were members of these groups: Borgarfjörður Women, Borgarfjörður Society in Reykjavík, Borgarfjördur Búnaðarfélag, Borgarfjörður Ungverjafélag and Kaupfir Borgarfjörður. The museum was not an attractive place for a long time and transitioned in 1970 from Borgarfjördur's premises in Borgarnes  Egilsgata to Borgarbraut 61 where it was combined with the library and regional archives. In May 1988, the museums moved to Bjarnarbraut 4-6 where they are today. There they work in a collection class under the name Borgarfjörður Safnahús.

Some of the many precious artifacts in the museum, include Barón Baron in the White Mountains, wardrobe from Úlfsstaðir, paintings by Collingwood and the craft of Þórður Jónsson from Mófellsstaðir in Skórradal. There are a total of 10,000 registered items in the collection which has been intact since the late 1960s. Initially, the museum collected systematically and annually the museum receives a good grade on the initiative of volunteers.

In 1971 the Borgarnes Art Museum was establish and dedicated to Hallsteinn Sveinsson (from Eskiholt) a generous benefactor and inhabitant of Borgarnes. He gifted more than 100 valuable works of art, in crasing the collection and  because his contributions the museum was able to undergo the necessary renovations and improvements. Today, the museum's collection of art exceeds seven hundred Icelandic paintings and statues. In 2009, the Art Gallery of Safnahhus was named Hallsteinssalur in memory of its benefactor.

In 2017 the museum celebrated it's 150 birthday.

The Exhibitions
Category:Museums in Iceland Category:Safnahús Borgarfjarðar
 * Börn í 100 ár - Children Throughout the Century   In 2007 on the hundred year anniversary of a law securing all children the right to attend school, an exhibition chronicling the 20th century through the eyes of children was opened at the Borgarnes museum. The exhibition is specially designed to capture the attention of children and is dedicated to showing rather than telling the audience what childhood in Iceland was like in a century of turmoil and change.  An old baðstofa living room from a traditional turfhouse from the 1950's was reconstructed inside the museum. The baðstofa was the heart of Icelandic homes, where people ate, slept and worked, all together in the same room.  Photos of children and their surroundings through the century, toys, and other objects.
 * Oh To Be A Bird  The second permanent exhibition is an extensive collection of prepared Icelandic birds that have migrated to Iceland. A extensive collection of birds in a beautiful environment. museum.
 * Hallsteinssalur The main hall is a spacious well lit exhibition space featuring artists works about the region. The space looks out over the Faxafloi Bay.
 * Other Exhibitions In the hallway there is a third exhibition which is about the french explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot, his crew and the story of their shipwreck Pourquoi Pas off the shores of Borgarnes.
 * Public Library On the right as you enter there is a public library and a coffee corner.