The Kon-Tiki Museum

28/08/2026

Warmest condolences to the Royal Family and to the entire people of Norway, who are grieving today of the loss of our dear, dear King: His Majesty King Harald V of Norway.

During World War II, when Thor Heyerdahl was training as a soldier with the Norwegian Forces, he lived in a small cabin not far from Camp Little Norway. Together with a fellow soldier, Heyerdahl had rescued a young bear cub, named Peik, from hunters who wanted to sell him to a circus.

One summer, this the family received some distinguished visitors: Crown Princess Märtha, Prince Harald, and Princess Astrid. The two young royals spent a few days with Thor Heyerdahl’s son, Thor Jr., their dog Bamse, the bear Peik, and Thor Heyerdahl.

In the photograph: Peik, Prince Harald, Princess Astrid, and Thor Heyerdahl. A young Prince Harald is taking a photograph of Peik, while his sister, Princess Astrid, sits in a canoe with Thor Heyerdahl.

21/08/2026

The shortest telegram in adventure history! ✉️

Thor Heyerdahl sent a blunt letter to a war hero Torstein Raaby: “I guarantee nothing but a free trip across the ocean on a wooden raft... Will you come?”
Torstein’s reply was a single word: “Coming.”

Torstein Raaby was a fearless WWII secret agent and radio operator, making him the perfect crew member to handle the radio equipment on the 4,000-mile Kon-Tiki voyage.

21/08/2026

A remarkable story of courage, curiosity, and environmental discovery. 🌊

Madani Ait Ouhanni, a Berber from Marrakesh, was one of the crew members of Thor Heyerdahl’s RA II expedition, which crossed the Atlantic in 1970. A former national-team handball player with experience in the hotel industry. But Madani had never been to sea, and he could not swim!🏊🏾

During the 57-day voyage, the crew found solid lumps of oil on 43 of the days. Madani was responsible for collecting the data on the pollution, contributing to a report that had enormous implications for ending the human-caused pollution of the oceans. 🌊

Now, more than 55 years later, his personal story has come to The Kon-Tiki Museum. Madani’s daughter, Mouna Ait Ouhanni, visited the museum recently and donated his precious diary from the RA II expedition.

A personal record of an extraordinary voyage and an important piece of the history of ocean conservation. 💙🌍

On Thursday, August 13 2026, Mouna Ait Ouhanni stood in front of the famous reed boat Ra II at the Kon-Tiki Museum. Beside her was museum director Liv Heyerdahl, Thor Heyerdahl’s granddaughter. Between them, they held a brown binder filled with loose, handwritten pages.

18/08/2026

“I was greatly inspired by it,” says 84-year-old Malcolm Blight, who has just returned the book The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl - 72 years after borrowing it! 😂📚

The book was borrowed from Murray Bridge High School in Murray Bridge, South Australia, about 80 km southeast of Adelaide.

And this is the best part: The Kon-Tiki Expedition is all about adventure and Malcolm actually went on to live one himself. Inspired by Heyerdahl’s story, he trekked the 1,200 km Heysen Trail, climbed the Flinders Ranges, and canoed sections of the River Murray.

So perhaps he didn’t really keep the book overdue for 72 years…
He was just taking his time putting it into practice. 😂🌏📖

Thor Heyerdahl would have loved this history! 🫶

Read more:

Murray Bridge's Malcolm Blight held on to the adventurous The Kon-Tiki Expedition for more than 70 years, during which time he was inspired to undertake several journeys of his own.

12/08/2026

NEW ARTICLE:
Kon-Tiki didn’t just cross the Pacific, the legendary raft inspired a new generation of explorers to put historical questions to the test on the open ocean. 🌊 From balsa rafts and reed boats to the Tangaroa expedition, this fascinating story traces the voyages that followed—and challenged—Thor Heyerdahl’s groundbreaking 1947 experiment.

Read the full story on how one voyage launched a worldwide age of experimental seafaring. 🗿⛵️🏝️

Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition did more than demonstrate that a balsa raft could cross from South America to Polynesia. It inspired generations of experimental voyages testing ancient navigation, survival, human endurance, and vessel design. Explorers such as Alain Bombard, William Will

10/08/2026

In 1952, Kon-Tiki made Norwegian film history when the documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. 🏆

The documentary tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary 1947 Pacific expedition, when he and his five crew members crossed the ocean on the Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft built to test his theory that ancient South Americans could have reached Polynesia by sea. 🌊

During the 101 day journey, the crew filmed their own experiences using a 16 mm camera, capturing life on the raft, the vast Pacific, marine life and the challenges they encountered along the way. 🎥

Released in 1950, the documentary brought their extraordinary journey to audiences around the world and became the first Norwegian film to win an Academy Award.

The Oscar winning Kon-Tiki documentary is shown at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. 🩵

04/08/2026

Visit Norway has created a wonderful interview with Director Liv Heyerdahl, exploring how the Kon-Tiki Museum's new exhibition brings Thor Heyerdahl's remarkable legacy to life through fresh perspectives and interactive experiences.

It's a story of adventure, curiosity, and discovery—designed to inspire a new generation of explorers.

Have you visited the new exhibition yet?🌊⛵🗿

Read the interview and discover the new exhibition!

At the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, a new exhibition revisits the life and legacy of Thor Heyerdahl, from the famous Kon-Tiki expedition to the people behind the journey.

03/08/2026

From archive boxes to a PhD! 📚🌏
Almost ten years ago, Anton Öhman started working with the Bengt Danielsson Archive at the Kon-Tiki Museum. 🗿This work has led to a PhD about how people in the Pacific spoke out against nuclear testing and challenged government secrecy.
His research tells the story of the communities in French Polynesia who collected documents, shared their experiences, and worked to show the human and environmental impact of nuclear weapons testing.
Congratulations to Dr. Anton Öhman on this fantastic achievement! 🎉
Read the full story and learn how the Kon-Tiki Museum's archives helped inspire this important research.

When Anton Öhman defended his doctoral dissertation at Lund University, it marked the culmination of a research project that began in the Bengt Danielsson Archive at the Kon-Tiki Museum. His dissertation shows how Pacific activists challenged nuclear secrecy and produced credible knowledge about th...

20/07/2026

In 1970, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew crossed the Atlantic Ocean aboard Ra II, a boat made from papyrus reeds using boat-building techniques inspired by ancient civilizations.

The expedition was designed to explore whether early peoples could have made long-distance ocean voyages using traditional knowledge, natural materials, and simple navigation methods. Heyerdahl believed that ancient seafarers may have had greater abilities to cross oceans than many people assumed.

After departing from Morocco, Ra II successfully reached Barbados in the Caribbean after a journey of around 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) across the Atlantic. The voyage demonstrated the strength of ancient boat-building methods and became a powerful symbol of human curiosity, exploration, and the courage to challenge accepted ideas.

Today, the original Ra II boat is preserved and displayed at the Kon-Tiki Museum, where visitors can learn about Heyerdahl’s expeditions and his lifelong fascination with ancient cultures, migration, and ocean exploration.