COPENHAGEN.- The Natural History Museum of Denmark announced that Dr. Juliette Fritsch has been appointed as the new Head of Exhibitions and Visitor Experience. Juliette comes from a similar position at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, just north of Boston. Previously she has worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At both museums, she worked on major institutional transformation projects creating new galleries and experiences for the audience.

Dr. Juliette Fritsch has over twenty years’ experience in the international cultural sector. She will be part of the Museum Leadership and takes a seat at the Board of Directors.

Prior to her hiring, Juliette served as Chief of Interpretive Experiences and Creative Partnerships at the Peabody Essex Museum working closely with curators, designers and artists to deliver exciting and imaginative exhibitions and associated education programs. Her extensive experience makes her a natural fit to meet the dynamic needs of a modern-day museum and she will play an important role in the journey toward the new natural history museum.

"I am proud of welcoming an internationally strong professional like Juliette Fritsch. I am greatly looking forward to working with her and I am extremely pleased that the Museum and the University of Copenhagen stand to benefit from her long-term experience and visionary approaches," says Professor Peter C. Kjærgaard, Director of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. He adds: The Museum used an international recruitment agency to find the right candidate and the recruitment of Juliette Fritsch is an outstanding chance to bring the highest international level of museum exhibitions and visitor design to Denmark.

The new museum building
At present, the Natural History Museum of Denmark consists of the Zoological Museum, the Geological Museum and the Botanical Garden. By the time the new museum building opens in 2022, all of the Zoological Museum’s collections, exhibitions and research will have relocated to the Botanical Garden. The current premises of the Geological Museum will be part of the new museum.

The new museum building will cost approximately DKK 950 million. Together, the Villum Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation will account for DKK 550 million of the construction costs, with the remainder coming from the University of Copenhagen (DKK 300 million) and the government (DKK 100 million).

In order to find the right exhibition architect for this important and complicated task, the A. P. Møller Foundation is financing a competition in which a number of internationally recognized exhibition design companies are currently participating.