Upgrading the Lyche Pavilion and the permanent collection presentation

The well-known and beloved collection presentation has been wrapped up, and the museum's collection and exhibition team will use the opportunity to rethink both audience favorites and new additions to the collection. A new, permanent collection presentation will open in the winter of 2028. In the meantime, consideration will be given to what will be shown in the future – and how. As early as the fall of 2026, the Lychepaviljongen will reopen to the public with a engaging, changing exhibition program.

The permanent exhibition in the Lychepaviljongen has for over twenty years presented an art historical line that ranges from JC Dahl to Bård Brodersen, with later additions by Torbjørn Kvasbø, among others. The exhibition was curated at the time by the museum's former director, Åsmund Thorkildsen, and has stood as a colorful and diverse story about the history of art in Norway – and in Drammen in particular. The presentation is based on the collection we took over in connection with the consolidation with the Drammen Kunstforening in 1996, as well as our own collection.

Highlights from the collection

In the Permanent Gallery, the public has been able to experience separate cabinets dedicated to national romanticism, French-inspired naturalism, 1920s and interwar art deco and new objectivity, trend art, as well as highlights from our collection of modern art.

Since 2016, the exhibition has also featured a selection from the museum's collection of Scandinavian Design, with design icons and key objects in glass, ceramics and enameled metal.

Funds for upgrading

The Lyche Pavilion was built in 1990, with several halls for permanent exhibitions of our art and design collection, as well as two halls for temporary exhibitions. We have now received funding to upgrade the pavilion, and in this context the permanent exhibition will be rethought. In January 2026, the well-known and beloved collection presentation was packed up. While the Lyche Pavilion undergoes the upgrade with a focus on improved building technical facilities and increased exhibition space, the collection and exhibition team will use the time to review the extensive collection, including new additions that have arrived in recent years. The aim is to consider what should be shown in the future – and how.

Hilde Mørch assists

In this work, we will bring art historian Hilde Mørch with us, who will approach the collection from an outside perspective and use her experience as a curator and researcher to explore new possibilities in both the collection and the Lycepaviljongen's upgraded space. A new collection presentation, curated by Mørch, will open in the winter of 2028, but already in the fall of 2026 the Lycepaviljongen will reopen to the public with an engaging, changing exhibition program.

We look forward to an exciting new chapter for the Lychepaviljongen, and look forward to sharing more about plans and processes in the future.