Sážža - Senja nature and culture-center

Sážža - Senja Nature and Culture Center is located in Øverbotn in Tranøy municipality on Senja island

Preservation and management community
At Sážža, the Midt-Troms Museum and the Ånderdalen National Park Board are working on collaborating ways of managing cultural- and nature work at Senja, and have in this regard established a joint administrative hub at Øverbotn. An important part of our collaboration with the Ånderdalen National Park Board, is our joint permanent exhibition that conveys the natural and cultural history on Senja island and in the Ånderdalen National Park.

Both the Midt-Troms Museum and the Ånderdalen National Park Board are managing Sami areas on Senja. 11 km away from Sážža is the Kaperdalen Sami Museum, a preserved Sami settlement, located in an important Sami-cultural landscape. The Midt-Troms Museum manages several Sami artifacts, which are exhibited here.

People & Nature at Sážža / Senja
The Midt-Troms Museum, Ånderdalen National Park Board and the County Governor of Troms have together developed the permanent exhibition “Folk & Natur'' at Sážža / Senja, which exhibits the natural and cultural history of Senja. The exhibition is built seamlessly, representing Sážža - Senja. It is put together with inputs and elements from the County Governor in Troms, focusing on protected areas on Senja and themes from Ånderdalen National Park, with a focus on nature, as well as a section based on cultural history from the entire diverse island of Senja. Examples of the main elements in the exhibition are the peat hut door from “Nikolaigammen” in Ner-Kaperdalen. It represents the land-sami villages that were located in the heart of Senja surrounded by the sea. The exhibition presents Senja museum’s facilities, showing households, dual economy, Ånderdalen's history, names, geology, mountains and typography, birds and animals, natural landscapes and much more. The exhibition engages to actively participate through several interactive modules that change between different themes.

The contributors at Sážža
Several companies have been established at Sážža, all of which are working in a community focused on cultural dissemination. The Ånderdalen National Park Board is working to make Sážža a national park center for Ånderdalen. At Øverbotn, Rimfrost Theatre Ensemble has its prop-storage and rehearsal rooms for their theater productions. In the basement is the second-hand shop MITT Tranøy. The building also houses Senja Handbryggeri, a microbrewery for locally produced beer. During the summer season food and drink is provided by Ækt Mat, which also offers catering all year round.
Sážža is the natural meeting place in the municipality, and the venue has several conference rooms and great facilities for various gatherings.

Walkthrough exhibitions
Midt-Troms Museum has a variety of temporary walkthrough exhibitions at Sážža - Senja Nature and Culture Center. These exhibitions are available to the public during the summer season, from the beginning of May till the end of September.
For a more detailed description, go to “WALKING EXHIBITIONS“.
In addition, you can also find the “Tourist Information” at Øverbotn during the summer season.