Every form of art, everywhere in the city
Reykjavik Arts Festival (Listhátíð Reykjavíkur) opened May 22nd with a newly commissioned performance work by the Pond in the center of Reykjavik. The Festival is the far biggest event this week in the capital area. It has been held annually in May since 2004, but started back in 1970 and is one of Northern Europe’s oldest and most respected arts festivals. Extending its reach out of the city and into the suburbs and even as far as Snaefellsnes Peninsula, giving everyone a chance, regardless of location, to be a part of the event. Some highlights below.
RVK ARTS: The Nature and People of the North
Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson has for the past three decades documented the way of life of hunters in Greenland, and farmers and fishermen in Iceland and the Faeroes. The exhibition at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography comprises a selection of Ragnar’s best-known photo-series from the west Nordic countries. It also includes images from Siberia and a selection of Ragnar’s news photography, including photos from the Baltic States at the dawn of a new era, and of shipwrecks and natural disasters – and arresting pictures of the impact that man is having on the nature of the North.
From May 24
RVK ARTS: Nature’s Joke
Three artists from different artistic paths join forces in a work called ‘Lusus naturae’. Artist Ólafur Nordal, music composer Þuríður Jónsdóttir, and animator and animation director, Gunnar Karlsson, have created an installment joining music, animation and live music at Hafnarborg museum. The installment focuses on a dreamlike state, something that is stuck between the natural and the supernatural; the circle of life when time’s been slowed down. On May 25th and 29th, there will be live music accompanying the installment – on other days it will be recorded.
From May 24.
RVK ARTS: When the truth is a lie
Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. All three islands have their own history, their own folklores, and even while they’re all located in the North Atlantic, there are a number of misconceptions that are passed on between generations as truths. Fantasar is a theatre show based on ideas, misconceptions, and a false sense of identity within the three island nations. Stories will be re-told, facts will be fiction. Shown at the old harbour in the centre of the capital.
From May 22 until June 5
Tuesday Jazz at Kex Hostel
Kex Jazz is a zazz concert series on Kex Hostel every Tuesday. Some of Iceland's best jazz mussicians are regulars. Starts at 20.30 and admission is free of charge. Skúlagata 28, 101 Reykjavík.
See more Reykjavík events and acrtivities
This is the Reykjavík section of Best of Iceland This Week, the only Icelandic guide of its kind. New every week.
Every form of art, everywhere in the city
Reykjavik Arts Festival (Listhátíð Reykjavíkur) opened May 22nd with a newly commissioned performance work by the Pond in the center of Reykjavik. The Festival is the far biggest event this week in the capital area. It has been held annually in May since 2004, but started back in 1970 and is one of Northern Europe’s oldest and most respected arts festivals. Extending its reach out of the city and into the suburbs and even as far as Snaefellsnes Peninsula, giving everyone a chance, regardless of location, to be a part of the event. Some highlights below.
RVK ARTS: The Nature and People of the North
Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson has for the past three decades documented the way of life of hunters in Greenland, and farmers and fishermen in Iceland and the Faeroes. The exhibition at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography comprises a selection of Ragnar’s best-known photo-series from the west Nordic countries. It also includes images from Siberia and a selection of Ragnar’s news photography, including photos from the Baltic States at the dawn of a new era, and of shipwrecks and natural disasters – and arresting pictures of the impact that man is having on the nature of the North.
From May 24
RVK ARTS: Nature’s Joke
Three artists from different artistic paths join forces in a work called ‘Lusus naturae’. Artist Ólafur Nordal, music composer Þuríður Jónsdóttir, and animator and animation director, Gunnar Karlsson, have created an installment joining music, animation and live music at Hafnarborg museum. The installment focuses on a dreamlike state, something that is stuck between the natural and the supernatural; the circle of life when time’s been slowed down. On May 25th and 29th, there will be live music accompanying the installment – on other days it will be recorded.
From May 24.
RVK ARTS: When the truth is a lie
Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. All three islands have their own history, their own folklores, and even while they’re all located in the North Atlantic, there are a number of misconceptions that are passed on between generations as truths. Fantasar is a theatre show based on ideas, misconceptions, and a false sense of identity within the three island nations. Stories will be re-told, facts will be fiction. Shown at the old harbour in the centre of the capital.
From May 22 until June 5
Tuesday Jazz at Kex Hostel
Kex Jazz is a zazz concert series on Kex Hostel every Tuesday. Some of Iceland's best jazz mussicians are regulars. Starts at 20.30 and admission is free of charge. Skúlagata 28, 101 Reykjavík.