South Street Seaport Museum Unveils New Exhibition: SIGNS OF ORIGIN
Signs of Origin opens on October 1 and runs through November 30, 2025. No tickets are required.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 23, 2025
This Fall, the South Street Seaport Museum will host an outdoor photographic exhibition featuring six American individuals of Norwegian descent who share their personal interpretation of their own ethnic origins. Signs of Origin opens on October 1 and runs through November 30, 2025. No tickets are required.
In 2019, Norwegian photographer Inger-Maren Slagsvold (b. 1978) and visual artist Lucia Aragón (b. 1988) visited Minnesota, Iowa, and Washington State to interview and photograph 40 descendants of Norwegian immigrants. The interviews took place in the participants' own homes, where they were asked to choose a single object that they felt represented their ethnic identity. After photographing both the participants and their chosen objects, Aragón and Slagsvold spoke with the individuals about their personal connection to the object and their interpretation of their ethnic origins. The resulting photographs and excerpts from these interviews form the exhibition Signs of Origin, which was first exhibited in 2020 at the Anno Museum - Norwegian Emigrant Museum.
Beginning this October, a visit to the Seaport will include exploring a portion of the original exhibition reproduced for outdoor exhibition along the historic streets of the Seaport. Strolling down Water Street and Fulton Street, audience members will experience six of the interviews selected for an outdoor photographic exhibition. Each display pairs a portrait of the Norwegian descendant printed alongside an image of their selected object displayed together with explanatory quotes from the interview in both English and Norwegian.
This limited-time outdoor exhibition is free and open to all-no registration required. Beginning in October, you're invited to stroll through the historic streets of the Seaport and explore the displays at your own pace. While at the museum, step inside the Seaport Museum to experience the Maritime City exhibition, climb aboard historic ships, and discover everything admission to the Museum has to offer.
About South Street Seaport Museum Admission Tickets
Regular admission to the Seaport Museum is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $5 for children under the age of 18. Admission for Seaport Museum members is free. Tickets are available for purchase online and in-person. Museum Admission tickets grant access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16 as well as all exhibitions on view in the introduction galleries inside Schermerhorn Row located at 12 Fulton Street. Admission also include access to the the three-floor exhibition Maritime City in A.A. Thomson & Co. located at 213 Water Street. In addition to regular admission, Pay What You Wish admission is available for purchase in-person at any check-in station at the Museum.
Videos