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Faced with the contradiction of heritage preservation in an age of ecological collapse, museums around the globe have begun to reckon with their responsibility towards climate mitigation. Often ignored in these discussions are oil museums, understudied cultural attractions where museum workers are tasked with researching, interpreting, and exhibiting the artifacts and histories of an energy industry in transition. This interview, conducted by Camille-Mary Sharp virtually in April 2024, brings into conversation two educators from distinct institutions: the Norwegian Petroleum Museum (Stavanger, Norway) and the Oil Museum of Canada (Oil Springs, Canada). Working ocean, seas, and lakes apart, Julia Stangeland and Christina Sydorko nevertheless find common ground—both raised on farms and trained as teachers, they now channel their passion and expertise towards critical energy literacy for current and future generations. This discussion reflects the interviewees’ individual views and is not representative of their respective institutions.
Cultural institutions are beginning to confront their deep entanglement with the high-carbon systems that have driven the climate crisis, recognizing operational, existential, and epistemological challenges in a decarbonizing world. Exhibitions have historically celebrated fossil energy as progress, and museums now face the complex task of balancing this legacy with urgent climate narratives that promote societal transformation. Energy humanities offer a critical lens to support cultural institutions in reshaping their societal roles and future visions to ethically contribute to a low-carbon future.
Nélia Dias, Rodney Harrison, Dolly Jørgensen, Gertjan Plets, and Colin Sterling introduce Petroculture’s Intersections with The Cultural Heritage (PITCH) sector in the context of green transitions, a new Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation funded research project that brings together academic and cultural sector partners in six countries. The project aims to spur on the processes by which humanities and arts scholarship and public interventions can strengthen citizen engagement with the constantly changing nature of cultural heritage and its relationship to past and present petrocultures to lay the groundwork for rapid, society-wide European green transitions away from a reliance on fossil fuels.
