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Heritage of the world and Unesco
In May 2011, the Thor Heyerdahl Archives were added to UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” Register.
Currently, this list includes 238 collections from all over the world. The Heyerdahl Archives span the years 1937 to 2002 and include his photographic collection, diaries, private letters, expedition plans, articles, newspaper clippings, original book and article manuscripts. The Heyerdahl Archives are administered by the Kon-Tiki Museum and the National Library of Norway in Oslo.
Some of unique photo and film material were collected from places that soon after would face modernisation and globalisation processes making the pictures and films documenting their transitional period even more important, both for the local communities as well as the modern world that imposed these changes upon them.
On the occasion of the celebration of the 100 year anniversary of Thor Heyerdahls birth, the book Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki in New Light by The Thor Heyerdahl Institute was launched in October 2014.
World citizen, explorer, writer and scientist, Thor Heyerdahl’s legacy is an archive of unusual richness that encompasses photographs, films, manuscripts and documents of historical, artistic and cultural value. They provide a unique insight into the life and work of one of the greatest communicators and renowned explorers of the 20th century, who at the same time was a source of inspiration for generations of people and scientists throughout the world.