The Maker movement has arrived in Oslo, and last weekend’s Maker Faire Oslo conclusively proved that it is here to stay. Over the two days of 18 and 19 January, thousands of people flocked to Oslo’s Teknisk Museum (the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology) to see 50 exhibits and generally make stuff.
Principal organisers Jon Haavie from the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology and Roger Antonsen from the University of Oslo´s Department of Informatics, have been overwhelmed by the turnout and high level of interest. Even during two full days of activity, people of all ages could not seem to get enough. The main message coming out of this is that anyone can be a Maker, and there is a wish to stimulate creativity and innovation as well as to encourage young people to choose careers within science and technology. And, as journalist Jacob Lund of Norwegian national newspaper Aftenposten wrote in a comment about the Maker movement and Maker Faire Oslo: “Playing is the fastest, safest and, not least, most fun road to innovation.”
Maker of the Year
More than 180 Makers were exhibiting and conducting workshops and talks during the 2-day festival in Oslo. On the Saturday evening they celebrated the success with a dinner at downtown Mathallen. This was a perfect occasion for the creator of Maker Faire, Mr Dale Dougherty, to announce Faire´s Maker of the Year. The winner is Erik Thorstensson from the Gothenburg-based design network Creatables, who won the prize for his Strawbees, a modular construction system that you can read more and see a sweet little film about here.
Worldwide
Dale Dougherty was well impressed with all the enthusiasm and creativity he witnessed in Oslo. He even went as far as to name 2014 “Year of the Maker” – as he expects this year to be the real breakout year for Makers. Oslo was the first official Maker Faire of 2014, and there are many more to come, with over 50 events already planned all over the world for the rest of the year.
Oslo Business Region and Oslo Innovation Week were partners in Maker Faire Oslo, and we are already looking forward to the next one!