After more than two decades conserving animals at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, it was time for something new for Abdi Hedayat:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI\u2019ve conserved the whales I needed to, and I don\u2019t really miss it.\u00ab<\/p>\n
He changed direction in 2024 and swapped the animals for human-made objects and mechanics at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology in Helsing\u00f8r:<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt was pretty nerve-racking to start from scratch, but it was an incredibly educational process. I broadened my horizons, and it was good for me to dive into something completely different, meet new people, and understand a new collection,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
But when the position as head of collections and conservation at Medical Museion became vacant, he knew he had to apply. The museum, located in the historic Royal Academy of Surgery, holds both medical curiosities and narratives about the history of the human body.<\/p>\n
A conservator tries to preserve something that nature is constantly trying to break down<\/p>\n
Abdi Hedayat<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The position has only been vacant twice in the past 50 years, and Abdi Hedayat\u2019s predecessor Ion Meyer held it for 25 of them. Although Hedayat enjoyed his job at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology, he felt he had to give this a shot.<\/p>\n
\u00bbI wasn\u2019t the only one who applied. And now I\u2019ve been lucky enough to get it. So I also feel I owe it to the other applicants to do a good job. That thought can be a bit nerve-wracking.\u00ab<\/p>\n
He naturally brings with him the experience from his previous positions, and he says he intends to build on all the work his predecessors have done.<\/p>\n
\u00bbSome of my colleagues have been here for decades. They know the place inside out, and Ion Meyer spent years organising the collections. So I have no plans to turn it all upside down.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Jolt of curiosity<\/h3>\n
Abdi Hedayat doesn\u2019t plan any major changes, but he hopes to contribute to the museum\u2019s outreach. Even though he\u2019s done with animal conservation himself, he dreams of the museum showing animal dissections \u2014 something he introduced successfully at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n
For Abdi Hedayat, dissection isn\u2019t just about cutting animals open \u2014 it\u2019s about understanding what it means to be human:<\/p>\n
\u00bbYou might examine a wolf\u2019s hind leg and wonder why it doesn\u2019t look like mine, and what its function is. In that way, you learn to understand development and evolution. And this place is perfect for that,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
Despite earlier debates about whether children should even witness dissections of animals, Abdi Hedayat strongly believes it\u2019s an important learning tool \u2014 one he learned a lot from as a child. He wants to pass that insight on to future generations:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI\u2019m sure that some of the children who\u2019ve seen a dissection had a small spark lit inside them, and maybe one day they\u2019ll return as conservators, biologists or something entirely different. There\u2019s hardly a greater gift than being allowed to be an inspiration.\u00ab
\n
\nAccording to Abdi Hedayat, it\u2019s not really the children who need to overcome this barrier. In his experience, children are curious and engaged, while it\u2019s often the adults who get squeamish at the sight of dead animals. That\u2019s why communication is key when dissections are presented publicly. If you can turn the experience from something horrifying and disgusting into something exciting and educational, then it\u2019s been a success.<\/p>\n
And for him, it\u2019s not just about biology. It\u2019s about how we, as a society, create and share knowledge:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI believe the path to a more democratic society goes through knowledge. One way of generating new knowledge is to look inside a body, study blood vessels, bones, and examine the musculature to understand how everything fits together.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Difficult decisions<\/h3>\n
Abdi Hedayat is passionate about museum work. He has now worked at three different museums with different purposes, and he continues in the museum world because he believes museums are among the most important institutions in society.<\/p>\n
\u00bbMuseum collections are a hassle. They take up an incredible amount of space. It would be much easier to photograph the objects and throw them out afterwards. But that would be like scanning the front and back cover of a book and then discarding its actual content. We need to keep the collections. Fundamentally, we simply cannot afford not<\/em> to have museums.\u00ab<\/p>\nBut working in conservation \u2014 and especially as head of conservation \u2014 is not without its dilemmas. What are the optimal preservation conditions? Should the objects be put on display for the public, or kept in a secure room so they can last longer?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a dusty archive behind locked doors, but dynamic collections with active objects that matter to all of us<\/p>\n
Abdi Hedayat<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00bbI have many years of experience to draw on, and now I\u2019m in a leadership position where it\u2019s up to me to make the tough decisions,\u00ab says Abdi Hedayat.<\/p>\n
He is, for example, responsible for deciding whether a sample should be taken from an object \u2014 something that might ultimately damage it. It could lead to a new scientific discovery or result in a ruined museum artefact that will no longer exist for the future.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s a huge responsibility because these objects belong to the community. That\u2019s something I try to keep in mind. They\u2019re not my things. They\u2019re ours.\u00ab<\/p>\n
According to Abdi Hedayat, conservation is a paradox in itself: A conservator tries to preserve something that nature is constantly trying to break down. At the same time, the objects are meant to be used for research, education, and exhibition. And that wears them down.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThe balance is somewhere in between, in choosing to destroy our objects in a meaningful way.\u00ab<\/p>\n
A glimpse behind the scenes<\/h3>\n
One of the things that fascinates Abdi Hedayat the most about working at Medical Museion is the history the place carries within it:<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s absolutely amazing that the exhibition is located in the very building where the surgical academy was founded.\u00ab<\/p>\n
His fascination with knowledge-sharing, the museum\u2019s history, and the view of objects as shared heritage means he wants to open the doors even wider to the public. The museum has already tested formats where visitors are allowed to touch and examine real museum objects.<\/p>\n
And Abdi Hedayat dreams of inviting the public all the way behind the scenes, into the collections:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI hope it can elevate the collections, so people realise that it\u2019s not a dusty archive behind locked doors, but dynamic collections with active objects that matter to all of us.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Abdi Hedayat\u2019s mission is to leave people with a new perspective on humanity, nature and culture. And right here, he believes Medical Museion\u2019s exhibitions can offer something special: When you put the human body on display, it changes the way we see ourselves:<\/p>\n
\u00bbHuman beings aren\u2019t glorified here, as if you were going in to see some saint\u2019s relic. In the end, we are just like every other creature in nature. Our muscles are made of the same type of cells as a whale\u2019s or a crocodile\u2019s. It brings humans down to earth when you see yourself displayed in formaldehyde.\u00ab<\/p>\n
READ ALSO<\/strong>: Dental divides: Politics and history of teeth on show at Medical Museion<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nEven though Abdi Hedayat has only just begun as head of collections and conservation, he already seems at home. During the presentation there\u2019s lively back-and-forth with colleagues, and afterwards there\u2019s chatting, idea-sharing, and big thinking:<\/p>\n
\u00bbA museum isn\u2019t just a place where we store the past \u2014 it\u2019s a place that holds the key to understanding ourselves. And that\u2019s the insight my colleagues and I hope to pass on.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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for a while too.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s lunchtime at the Medical Museion, and the new kid on the block, Abdi Hedayat, is using the break to introduce himself to his new colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>There is a distinct smell of lunch in the room \u2014 is it liver p\u00e2t\u00e9 with pickled beetroot? \u2014 as he clicks through a presentation stacked with images. Now he dissects a polar bear, here he handles a whale, then he conserves a tiger. It\u2019s all delivered with dark humour and wild anecdotes from a working life far from the mundane.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">Medical Museion<\/p>\n<p>Medical Museion is a unit of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) and an internationally recognised university museum.<\/p>\n<p>Here, you can experience exhibitions and events that explore the body and mind, health and illness throughout history.<\/p>\n<p>The museum is located at Bredgade 62, in the buildings of the Royal Academy of Surgery from 1787.<\/p>\n<p>The word ‘Museion’ comes from Greek and refers to a place for collections, exhibitions, research and teaching.<\/p>\n<p><em>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museion.ku.dk\/en\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>And it all leads to where Abdi Hedayat now stands, as the new head of collections and conservation at Medical Museion.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/this-dull-black-killer-reminds-you-of-what-we-are-doing-to-the-planet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>This dull-black killer reminds you of what we are doing to the planet<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After more than two decades conserving animals at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, it was time for something new for Abdi Hedayat:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019ve conserved the whales I needed to, and I don\u2019t really miss it.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>He changed direction in 2024 and swapped the animals for human-made objects and mechanics at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology in Helsing\u00f8r:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt was pretty nerve-racking to start from scratch, but it was an incredibly educational process. I broadened my horizons, and it was good for me to dive into something completely different, meet new people, and understand a new collection,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>But when the position as head of collections and conservation at Medical Museion became vacant, he knew he had to apply. The museum, located in the historic Royal Academy of Surgery, holds both medical curiosities and narratives about the history of the human body.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A conservator tries to preserve something that nature is constantly trying to break down<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Abdi Hedayat<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The position has only been vacant twice in the past 50 years, and Abdi Hedayat\u2019s predecessor Ion Meyer held it for 25 of them. Although Hedayat enjoyed his job at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology, he felt he had to give this a shot.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI wasn\u2019t the only one who applied. And now I\u2019ve been lucky enough to get it. So I also feel I owe it to the other applicants to do a good job. That thought can be a bit nerve-wracking.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>He naturally brings with him the experience from his previous positions, and he says he intends to build on all the work his predecessors have done.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSome of my colleagues have been here for decades. They know the place inside out, and Ion Meyer spent years organising the collections. So I have no plans to turn it all upside down.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Jolt of curiosity<\/h3>\n<p>Abdi Hedayat doesn\u2019t plan any major changes, but he hopes to contribute to the museum\u2019s outreach. Even though he\u2019s done with animal conservation himself, he dreams of the museum showing animal dissections \u2014 something he introduced successfully at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>For Abdi Hedayat, dissection isn\u2019t just about cutting animals open \u2014 it\u2019s about understanding what it means to be human:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou might examine a wolf\u2019s hind leg and wonder why it doesn\u2019t look like mine, and what its function is. In that way, you learn to understand development and evolution. And this place is perfect for that,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>Despite earlier debates about whether children should even witness dissections of animals, Abdi Hedayat strongly believes it\u2019s an important learning tool \u2014 one he learned a lot from as a child. He wants to pass that insight on to future generations:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019m sure that some of the children who\u2019ve seen a dissection had a small spark lit inside them, and maybe one day they\u2019ll return as conservators, biologists or something entirely different. There\u2019s hardly a greater gift than being allowed to be an inspiration.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"It brings humans down to earth when you see yourself displayed in formaldehyde.","quotee":"Abdi Hedayat","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>According to Abdi Hedayat, it\u2019s not really the children who need to overcome this barrier. In his experience, children are curious and engaged, while it\u2019s often the adults who get squeamish at the sight of dead animals. That\u2019s why communication is key when dissections are presented publicly. If you can turn the experience from something horrifying and disgusting into something exciting and educational, then it\u2019s been a success.<\/p>\n<p>And for him, it\u2019s not just about biology. It\u2019s about how we, as a society, create and share knowledge:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI believe the path to a more democratic society goes through knowledge. One way of generating new knowledge is to look inside a body, study blood vessels, bones, and examine the musculature to understand how everything fits together.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Difficult decisions<\/h3>\n<p>Abdi Hedayat is passionate about museum work. He has now worked at three different museums with different purposes, and he continues in the museum world because he believes museums are among the most important institutions in society.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMuseum collections are a hassle. They take up an incredible amount of space. It would be much easier to photograph the objects and throw them out afterwards. But that would be like scanning the front and back cover of a book and then discarding its actual content. We need to keep the collections. Fundamentally, we simply cannot afford <em>not<\/em> to have museums.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>But working in conservation \u2014 and especially as head of conservation \u2014 is not without its dilemmas. What are the optimal preservation conditions? Should the objects be put on display for the public, or kept in a secure room so they can last longer?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s not a dusty archive behind locked doors, but dynamic collections with active objects that matter to all of us<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Abdi Hedayat<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00bbI have many years of experience to draw on, and now I\u2019m in a leadership position where it\u2019s up to me to make the tough decisions,\u00ab says Abdi Hedayat.<\/p>\n<p>He is, for example, responsible for deciding whether a sample should be taken from an object \u2014 something that might ultimately damage it. It could lead to a new scientific discovery or result in a ruined museum artefact that will no longer exist for the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s a huge responsibility because these objects belong to the community. That\u2019s something I try to keep in mind. They\u2019re not my things. They\u2019re ours.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>According to Abdi Hedayat, conservation is a paradox in itself: A conservator tries to preserve something that nature is constantly trying to break down. At the same time, the objects are meant to be used for research, education, and exhibition. And that wears them down.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe balance is somewhere in between, in choosing to destroy our objects in a meaningful way.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>A glimpse behind the scenes<\/h3>\n<p>One of the things that fascinates Abdi Hedayat the most about working at Medical Museion is the history the place carries within it:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s absolutely amazing that the exhibition is located in the very building where the surgical academy was founded.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>His fascination with knowledge-sharing, the museum\u2019s history, and the view of objects as shared heritage means he wants to open the doors even wider to the public. The museum has already tested formats where visitors are allowed to touch and examine real museum objects.<\/p>\n<p>And Abdi Hedayat dreams of inviting the public all the way behind the scenes, into the collections:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI hope it can elevate the collections, so people realise that it\u2019s not a dusty archive behind locked doors, but dynamic collections with active objects that matter to all of us.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Abdi Hedayat\u2019s mission is to leave people with a new perspective on humanity, nature and culture. And right here, he believes Medical Museion\u2019s exhibitions can offer something special: When you put the human body on display, it changes the way we see ourselves:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbHuman beings aren\u2019t glorified here, as if you were going in to see some saint\u2019s relic. In the end, we are just like every other creature in nature. Our muscles are made of the same type of cells as a whale\u2019s or a crocodile\u2019s. It brings humans down to earth when you see yourself displayed in formaldehyde.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/dental-divides-politics-and-history-of-teeth-on-show-at-medical-museion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Dental divides: Politics and history of teeth on show at Medical Museion<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even though Abdi Hedayat has only just begun as head of collections and conservation, he already seems at home. During the presentation there\u2019s lively back-and-forth with colleagues, and afterwards there\u2019s chatting, idea-sharing, and big thinking:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbA museum isn\u2019t just a place where we store the past \u2014 it\u2019s a place that holds the key to understanding ourselves. And that\u2019s the insight my colleagues and I hope to pass on.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}],"expression":{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":795,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"aligncenter","feature_color":"#00b57e","article_updated":""},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":43,"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":562,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":3160,"name":"People","slug":"people","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3160,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":58,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":795,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":671,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/abdifeatured-1280x775.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179247"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179306,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179247\/revisions\/179306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}