About us

The World Heritage Rock Art Centre – Alta Museum

The museum​ is situated in the municipality of Alta in Finnmark. The place is called Hjemmeluft, and is aproximately 5 km west of downtown Alta. In the surroundings of the museum you will find one of the five areas of rock art inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

The museum is open all year round.

You can experience the rock carvings through a guided tour or on your own, using a leaflet and/or an audio guide. The carvings are only accessible in the dryland season.

Inside the museum there are various exhibitions, a copious museum shop, and a café with a beautiful view of the Alta fjord.

The World Heritage Rock Art Centre – Alta Museum is an intercommunal company (ICC), owned by the municipality of Alta and the county municipality of Finnmark, each holding a 50 % liability share.

According to the company agreement, our mission statement is as follows:

Mission statement

”The company will work with preservation, documentation and dissemination of rock art in Finnmark. The company will perform administrative tasks in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Act by delegated powers in the world heritage area in Alta, and be a centre of resource for rock art work, both nationally and internationally.

The company will be a centre of expertise for rock art. The company will also be a centre of expertise for museal activities in its area, with empasis on promoting local and regional coordination and collaboration. The company will also engage in development of museum functions on a county basis, and will participate in national and international networks and cooperative efforts.

The company will conduct collection, documentation, research and dissemination of cultural and natural history in the municipality of Alta. In this context, the company will work with preservation of cultural heritage and physical environments of cultural historical significance, as well as the protection of items, written sources, photographs and oral tradition. The company will run a versatile dissemination based on this work, among other things.

The company will sell souvenirs, operate or rent out café and premises, in addition to other retail activities related to the primary purpose of the company.”