Utøya Memorial and Learning Centre

At the Utøya Memorial and Learning Centre in Norway, Mindfulness in Museums (MiM) contributed to an international programme exploring trauma-sensitive approaches to museum education and visitor engagement.

Through dialogue, reflection, and practice, the programme examined how mindfulness can support museums and memorial sites in creating spaces where visitors can encounter difficult histories with care and awareness.

Mindfulness in Museums brings mindfulness from the meditation room and clinical practice into museums: spaces for presence, care, and shared humanity.

Mindfulness in Museums and Utøya

In October 2022, Mindfulness in Museums founder Jolien Posthumus was invited to contribute to the Museum Education Seminars and Training (MEST) programme in Oslo.

The three-day seminar, organised by the Association of European Jewish Museums (AEJM), focused on best practices in museum programming addressing trauma, memory, and education.

As part of the programme, a keynote titled “Trauma-Informed Mindfulness in Museums” explored questions such as:

• What is trauma?
• How can museums prevent re-traumatisation where possible?
• How can museum professionals respond with understanding and care to trauma reactions among visitors?

The seminar also addressed the needs of Generation Z, many of whom encounter museums through school visits and educational programmes.

Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Practice

During the seminar, participants engaged in a trauma-sensitive mindfulness practice designed specifically for museum contexts.

The practice invited museum educators to explore how attention, presence, and embodied awareness can support visitors when encountering emotionally charged histories and narratives.

Rather than focusing solely on information and interpretation, trauma-sensitive mindfulness practices encourage museum professionals to consider how visitors experience exhibitions emotionally and physically.

Museum Context

The Utøya Memorial and Learning Centre is located on the island of Utøya in Norway.

On 22 July 2011, the island was the site of a terrorist attack during the summer camp of the Norwegian Labour Party’s youth organisation.

Today, Utøya has become a learning and memorial centre dedicated to remembrance, dialogue, and democratic engagement.

With a strong belief that knowledge can counter xenophobia, hate speech, and conspiracy thinking, the centre works to create an open and inclusive arena for learning, reflection, and civic participation.

Role of Mindfulness in Museums

Mindfulness in Museums contributed to the MEST programme by:

• delivering a keynote on trauma-sensitive mindfulness in museums
• facilitating a trauma-infomed mindfulness practice
• sharing expertise on how mindfulness can support museum education and visitor care

The MiM methodology is evidence-based, stress-, neuro- and trauma-informed.

All programmes are delivered by qualified mindfulness teachers trained at recognised institutions.

Mindfulness in Museums is a practice-led expertise emerging from the museum field itself, shaped by the sensory and emotional possibilities of art and heritage.