A Royal Visit to Split Rock’s Most Recent Exhibit: The Saga Center at Norway House
October 20, 2025
Split Rock Studios is delighted to announce that the Saga Center, located within the Haugo Bibliotek, is now open to the public. To celebrate the Grand Opening at Norway House, the museum was honored to welcome His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway during his official visit to the United States. Members of our project team had the pleasure of attending the event to hear the Crown Prince’s first impressions of our latest exhibit!
The Saga Center
The Saga Center, designed and fabricated by Split Rock Studios, invites visitors to explore personal connections to Norway and experience the country’s modern arts, business, and culture. With media developed in partnership with Trivium Interactive, the space showcases immersive technology, handcrafted wood furnishings, Norwegian artifacts, and even a troll or two. Together, these exhibit elements bridge complex connections between Minnesota and Norway from early immigration to contemporary life.
Upon entering, visitors are drawn into the Haugo family narrative when encountering the story of John Haugo and the Haugo family trunk. Through an audio-paired projection, John Haugo narrates his family’s immigration from Norway and his experience researching his family history. This story gives visitors a personal, human connection to build from in the rest of the gallery.
Technology plays a leading role in the visitor experience of the Saga Center. Visitors learn to research family histories through sample genealogy journeys. Through touchscreen interactives, visitors engage with various sources they might encounter when gathering information for their own family history. However, the exhibit is not solely focused on the past. A series of freestanding kiosks and a wall of dynamic visuals use embedded sensors to immerse visitors in outdoor adventures, urban tours, and insider experiences of life in Norway today.
A central feature of the gallery provides a warm, tactile element to the exhibits. The organically shaped Wood Wall, inspired by Norwegian wood sculptures, was hand-carved by builders at Split Rock Studios to bring a natural aesthetic into the high-tech space.
The sleek, modern, and high-tech exhibits of the Saga Center inspire visitors to discover Norway’s past, present, and future. We are so glad to have been a part of the Grand Opening of the Saga Center and to have witnessed enthusiastic visitor reactions firsthand.
