Dear guests, friends, and colleagues,

Welcome to Agder.

On behalf of Agder County Council, I am very happy to welcome you to this year's conference.

It is a pleasure and an honour for us to be your host.

You have travelled a long way, from many countries and different parts of the world. Thank you for coming to Agder.

We are also very happy to welcome you to Kunstsilo. 

It is a special place for art, culture, and new ideas, and a great place to start this conference.

The theme of this conference is intangible cultural heritage.

For us, this means the things people carry with them: knowledge, skills, stories, music, traditions, and ways of life.

These are things that cannot be kept only in museums. They live through people.

In Agder, we are proud of our living traditions.

In Setesdal, people still sing old songs, play traditional music, dance, make traditional costumes, and keep old craft skills alive.

Along the coast, we have strong traditions connected to the sea. 

We have stories, dialects, boatbuilding, and knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation.

These traditions tell us who we are.

They help us remember our past, but they also help us build our future.

Museums are very important in this work.

They are not only places where we keep things from the past. They are places where people meet, learn, share, and create new connections.

That is why your work is so important.

By working together across countries and cultures, you help keep heritage alive for future generations.

I hope you will enjoy your time here in Agder.

I hope you will have good discussions, learn from each other, and make new friends.

And I hope you will also have time to experience our landscapes, our culture, and our local communities.

Thank you to ICOM ICR for choosing Agder as the host for this year's conference.

We are proud to have you here.

Welcome to Agder, and welcome to Kunstsilo.

I wish you a successful and inspiring conference.

Thank you.