The opening ceremony, June 1, will take place in the heart of Reykjavík´s cultural hub, Reykjavík Art Museum with performances by the Icelandic Dance Company, Polish/Ukrainian band DAGADANA, and Duets by choreographer and performance artist Ásrún Magnúsdóttir will take place alongside the opening of Jónsi´s first solo exhibition in Europe.
This year's program contains a bounty of exhilarating visual art exhibitions not to be missed. Starting in the greater Reykjavík area, Agnes Ársæls and Anna Andrea Winther´s ongoing research project Inter-bite offers families a workshop with interactive sculptures at the Reykjavík pond Tjörnin on opening day.
Gerðarsafn will host artist Yuliana Palacios´s video installation on adaptation and longing in a foreign land from the 2nd to the 16th of June. Don’t miss Ásmundarsalur´s note-worthy mobile exhibition by artists Þórdís Erla Zöega and Shu Yi, exploring our perception of space. The traveling show will visit four different locations encompassing Reykjavík from the 2nd to the 17th of June, where guests can step in for a moment of tranquil exploration, reflection, and heightened awareness.
Six Nordic artists will present their multi-media work questioning the anthropocentric impact on our present-day existence at the Nordic House opening on the 7th of June. On the 8th of June, The National Gallery presents LOOP, a video installation by Tumi Magnússon evoking images and sound to explore the natural world unexpectedly. In the National Museum, Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir presents her artistic investigation into the Anthropocene and conceptions of cultural and natural inheritance. With objects gathered spanning over a ten-year process that defies definition, also opens on the 8th of June.
The festivities continue at Kling & Bang Gallery including two exhibitions by artists Guðrún Marta Jónsdóttir and Magnús Sigurðarson whose works touch upon the discourse of American influence in Iceland, on the 13th of June. At the Living Art Museum, the group exhibition Course also opens on June 13 focusing on sound in correlation with visual context.
On the 8th of June, Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir will unveil new sculptures at Gallery Outvert in Ísafjörður, Westfjords focusing on themes revolving around what it means to belong and not belong. For those in the East of Iceland, the independent art project KIOSK 108 — Captain’s Bridge / Stýrishús — NO PANIC ehf. will take place in Seyðisfjörður on the 7th and 8th of June, as well as the must-see visual exhibition RASK, the testimony of the development and erosion of land by photographer Agnieszka Sosnowska and poet Ingunn Snædal at Sláturhúsið in Egilsstaðir.
The North of Iceland will provide a cultural oasis starting with the diverse festival INTO at Alþýðuhúsið in Siglufjörður. Aðalheiður Eysteinsdóttir and Will Owen´s collaboration includes artists basking and absorbing the local influence of the energetic environment of the North from the 7th-9th of June. Akureyri Art Museum will explore where the boundaries of being from the North lie, in the unprecedented exhibition Is this North? presented by artists provoking questions on what it means to live amidst cultural diversity within the Arctic, opening on the 6th of June.
Every two years, the Reykjavík Art Festival aims to broaden cultural awareness by unifying the public with outstanding artistic creations. Prioritizing and honoring diverse voices within an ever-evolving cultural sphere, this year's theme explores what it means to be HERE. Celebrating the multicultural changes within Icelandic society, the festival tunes into an important discourse that arises during changes within our cultural heritage and language. The pressing questions of our current zeitgeist of what it means to be uprooted and relocated are reflected in the diversity of the festival´s artists and creations, HERE and now.
Since the birth of this multidisciplinary festival in 1970, the Reykjavík Arts Festival has been a leading force in the Icelandic art scene, drawing international artists, musicians and critical acclaim to the enriching artist refuge. The festival focuses on expanding our artistic realm while nurturing its relationship with the audience, creating space for personal interpretation of art on our terms.
Come chase sea monsters in the Reykjavík harbor; adventure, and coexist with art as we explore the boundless living creations of the 2024 Reykjavík Arts Festival!
For the complete program schedule click here
