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Hugo Llanes Brings Scaffolding, Punk, And Glowing Lýsi To Hafnarhús
In Between Cultures, Under Construction In a country where every fifth person has arrived from somewhere else, the topic of immigration and adaptation is embedded in the collective psyche. Iceland-based Mexican artist Hugo Llanes addresses this through humour and punk, blending cultural…
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In A State Of Flux: Tumi Magnússon’s Exhibition Is A Meditation On Movement And Change
One sunny Sunday in February, having exhausted the number of times I could do a day trip to Hveragerði, I decided to head southwest to Keflavík. This time, though, I wasn’t going to the airport. Keflavík is an unusually long town of…
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Days And Nights At The Museum: Finnur Arnar Concludes His Fully Immersive Stay At Ásmundarsafn
For nearly two months, the Icelandic multidisciplinary artist Finnur Arnar Arnarson has been living and working inside Ásmundarsafn — the former home and studio of pioneering sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson, now one of three locations of the Reykjavík Art Museum. He sleeps there,…
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In Pursuit Of Absolute Smoothness: Kristín Helga Ríkharðsdóttir’s Playful Take On Leg Hair And Perfection
I enter the D-Gallery of the Reykjavík Art Museum through a narrow tunnel draped in shimmering, powder-pink fabric. Plastic flowers hang along the tunnel on transparent strings. A curious eye on the wall follows my every move. Someone beside me murmurs, “Careful,…
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The Bunny And The Pig: An Interview With Anonymous Art Duo Panamaprent
“Um, can I ask, in lieu of your names, how would you like me to refer to you two?” I ask, tentatively. “The Bunny and The Pig,” The Pig states. I’m greeting two artists over Zoom, who are donning animal masks (one…
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Breathing Room: Iceland Begins The New Year With A Commercial Break
In the first few days of January, we’ve seen headline after headline of bad news from around the world: a tragic fire, war continuing to rage on the European continent, one country having set their eyes on another (or perhaps a few…
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An Exhibition Of Substance (With Pulp): Safakúr Platforms 10 Queer Artists At SIND Gallery
Outside SIND, a wall of windows reveals a buzzing exhibition opening. Tonight, Safakúr — or I’m Juicing — opens at the still nascent feminist gallery on Hringbraut. Ten artists showcase their works in Safakúr, where “queer relationships form the core of the…
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In Dialogue With Machines — And Maybe, With God: Steina Returns To Iceland With Her Biggest Exhibition To Date
“When I became a musician, I was 10 years old,” says Steina Vasulka, born Steinunn Briem Bjarnadóttir, sitting across from me in a museum cafe, waiting for her hot chocolate with a childlike impatience. “They were opening the National Theatre and the…
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A Labour Of Love: Reykjavík Dance Festival Dedicates Its 2025 Edition To Those Who Paved The Way
Since 2021, co-artistic directors and life partners Brogan Davison and Pétur Ármannsson have been leading Reykjavik Dance Festival with a mission to make dance accessible. As Brogan puts it, they’re constantly asking: “How can dance be for everyone, not just those who…
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Sex Tape On Full Display: Artist Couple Viðar Logi and Miles Greenberg Exhibit In Ásmundarsalur
In the Ásmundarsalur office, I sit across from artists Miles Greenberg and Viðar Logi. Even through the closed door, atmospheric music bleeds in from the exhibition room, and their exhibition’s signature scent still faintly lingers in the air. The music and the…
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Sequences Slows Down: The Real-Time Art Festival Invites You To Pause
Sequences Art Festival, the biennial festival celebrating its 12th edition this year, is a self-described “real-time festival.” Originally, this designated the festival’s focus on art that developed in real-time within the festival, or simply time-centric art. For the past several iterations, though,…
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A Collection Of Fleeting Moments: Lilja Birgisdóttir’s Exhibition Invites You To See The Unnoticed
It’s unusual to see Lilja Birgisdóttir outside Fischersund — the dark little house and wonderfully scented perfumery and art collective she runs with her siblings and family, where she’s often found greeting customers, offering homemade snaps, or emotionally reciting a poem. Today,…
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Fine Art And Flow: Þula Gallery Spreads Its Wings
The work of the gallerist is an opaque craft. They are the people who help artists navigate the tricky terrain of the industry — networking and dealmaking, detail-wrangling and logistics, hand-holding, hustling, and a lot more besides. They need to have a…
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Measuring Time: Rúrí On Respecting Nature, Not Being A Minimalist, And Her New Solo Exhibition
“I used to try to plan my life a long time ahead, but then I realised that all these unexpected bends and new flows are coming all the time into life. It’s something like the weather in Iceland. And I’ve just adjusted…
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What Might Grow: ‘In The Undergrowth’ Rethinks Our Relationship To Nature
Life in the age of climate catastrophe isn’t easy. As we watch things unfold around us — in the news, then edging ever closer, until they’re in our backyard — it can feel overwhelming. It’s a weight too big to be carried;…
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What Reality Is Made Of: Alicja Kwade Questions Everything We Think We Know
On a warm Thursday night, one corner of Tryggvagata is alive with chatter. Art students, collectors, museum professionals and at least one wayward classics professor have gathered outside i8 Gallery, along with a surprising number of art-sniffing dogs. The free drinks are…
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All That Is Green Is (Not) Good: Inuk Silis Høegh’s Widescreen Art
It’s about ten minutes into The Green Land that I get the fear. It’s a curious sensation similar to that moment when you’re staring into the night sky, and the joy and wonder of the stars gives way to something else —…
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Fragmented Aspects Of Woman: Valgerður Sigurðardóttir Brings A Solo Exhibition To Ásmundarsalur
“I always work a bit from something that happens to me, or dreams, or stories I hear,” says Valgerður Sigurðardóttir, walking through the white, open space of Ásmundarsalur. “It’s always personal. It might be more like starting from some feeling that I…
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Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places: Icelandic Artists In Varanasi
“What happens when artists are transported to a studio far away from the comfort zone of the familiar?” This question lies at the heart of the project that brought Among Gods and Mortals: Icelandic Artists in Varanasi to life — an exhibition…
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Sky Dancers In A Herring Factory
Pastels and auroras in a new art exhibition in Djúpavík “When you turn onto the Strandavegur, you really feel like you’re entering another world — and almost another lifetime,” says Emilie Dalum, curator of the annual art exhibition at the old herring…
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KRAFS Creates From Scratch At The National Gallery
From June 30 to July 6, an open collaborative project named KRAFS will take over The Workshop (Verkstæðið) in the National Gallery of Iceland. Throughout that week, they will run an experimental project with a repeating daily schedule of open hours, rehearsal,…
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The Future Is Lava: A Revolutionary Vision For Housing In Iceland
“Architects today are really stuck in the grip of capital,” says Arnhildur Pálmadóttir. “And I think we should be more.” Her words hang in the air. I blink, surprised, and try to speedily recalibrate my thinking. Architects, in my experience, do not…
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Herma Enters The Reykjavík Cultural Sphere
The new artist-run space on Hverfisgata changes exhibitions weekly Rebekka Joe and Baldur Stefánsson, Jón Sölvi Walderhaug Eiríksson and Jean-Luc Lazoore, and Bjarki Geirdal and Diana Rós Breckmann are three couples who have collaborated to open Herma, a new artist-run space located…