In the early 1880s, a business entrepreneur, Anders Sveaas (1840-1917) acquired the rights to the Kistefossen waterfall in Jevnaker and to build around the surrounding land.[1] At the time, literacy in Norway flourished, leading to the rise in demand for wood pulp for newspapers and books. Having set up a wood pulp mill before, Anders Sveaas saw the opportunity to build another pulp mill on the land. He planned to use the forest for timber, the waterfall as a source of power, and the Randselva river as a mean to transport materials at low costs.[1] Founding the company Kistefos, he soon began the construction of a wood pulp mill, A/S Kistefos Træsliberi in 1889. Following a year of construction, operations at the mill began in 1890 and lasted until 1955, where production ceased.[1] However, all operating materials and machines were still intact, becoming the only pulp mill left in Norway to have survived.[2] As result of family conflict, Kistefos Træsliberi and its facilities were sold off to a neighbouring company, Viul Pulp Mill in 1983/1984.[1][3] Not long after in 1993, Christen Sveaas, grandson of Anders Sveaas, managed to buy back 85% of the company's shares and now owns the majority of Kistefos Træsliberi, along with a number of other shareholders.[1] Contributing artworks from his personal collection, reconstruction of the site soon began with the purpose of transforming the old pulp mill and the neighbouring land into an industrial museum and contemporary art park respectively. Today, Kistefos integrates the old pulp mill among 12 other old factory buildings[1] as part of the park to maintain an important piece of Norwegian culture. Although part of the site is still dedicated to supplying power to neighbouring regions including the town of Jevnaker.[4]

Christen Sveaas is a businessman and art collector who spent much of his time curating a personal collection of contemporary artworks. Sveaas' aim with the creation of the museum was to create both a modernized museum, while also maintaining its surrounding cultural heritage.[4] In an interview by Georgina Adam from the Financial Times London, Sveaas stated “any rich man can build a sculpture park anywhere in the world; no one but me can build one around an intact 1889 factory”.[4] Whilst many works in the museum may draw upon Sveaas' own collection, this is not the intention for the museum but rather for all artworks to be inspired by the Kistefos site.[5] In another interview by Jonathon Bastable from Christie's, Sveaas said "everything I commission must be site-specific. I want the artist to be triggered by the picturesque landscape and its history",[5] sharing his philosophy of the park and its works.