Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2016, Blaðsíða 22

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2016
22
Reykjavík
Museum
Round-Up
Words VALUR GUNNARSSON Photos GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES
Alongside the heavy hitters such as the
Reykjavík Art Museum, the National
Gallery and the National Museum,
Reykjavík has a host of other museums
one can easily spend a week exploring.
And for a whole week, your humble re-
porter did just that.
Sunday at the Nordic House: For de-
cades, a Sunday stroll in RVK has often
led to the Nordic House for coffee and
a browse through the Scandinavian
papers on offer. But there are other
attractions here, apart from the stun-
ning house itself. The foyer includes
an exhibition area dedicated to Nordic
and Baltic artists. The current display
is by legendary men’s fashion guru
Sævar Karl, leaving his clothes behind
and trying his hand at expressionism.
A larger gallery is to be found down-
stairs and it is here one can find haute
couture by twelve Icelandic, Green-
landic and Faroese designers as seen
through the lens of American Sarah
Cooper and Austrian Nina Gorfer.
Even if fashion is not your thing, it is
still a fascinating study of landscape
as clothing. As a bonus, Sundays now
feature concerts in the greenhouse
outside at 3pm. And a walk through
the surrounding marshland bird pre-
serve isn’t so bad either, although the
area is closed off during egg laying
season.
Monday at the Settlement Exhibit:
Mondays are not traditionally mu-
seum days, but the Settlement Exhibi-
tion is open every day until eight in the
evening. It is also right in the centre
of town, making a drop-in as easy as
it rewarding. Inside, one can find the
remains of the first farm in Reykja-
vík, which may have been inhabited
by descendants of first settler Ingólfur
Arnarson. Here one can also see how
Reykjavík looked before the arrival
of people some 1200 years ago, and a
watch a run-through of Viking raids
on one of the display screens. Perhaps
most interesting is a virtual display of
Iceland’s cultural heritage, a combina-
tion of Celtic and Nordic influences,
as well as some places even further
afield. No trip to Iceland is complete
without seeing some Viking stuff, and
this, along with the National Museum,
is your best bet in Reykjavík.
Tuesday at the Einar Jónsson Mu-
seum: When it opened in 1923, it was
a solitary structure upon the hill, a
lone castle now dwarfed by the Hall-
grímskirkja church. The years have
in many ways not been kind to Einar,
who was the premier Icelandic artist
of his day and the subject of Reykja-
vík’s first art museum. His classical
style, using themes from the Bible and
the Old Gods as well as masonic my-
thology, were seen as outdated by mid-
20th century modernists, but can still
impress with their gigantism and epic
world view. Particularly impressive is
a mountain-sized troll being turned to
stone by the sun, more cinematic than
most cinema portrayals of similar
subjects. The sculpture park outside is
nice too.
Wednesday in Keflavík: This may be
going beyond the purview of our title,
but Keflavík is well worth a day trip,
and not just to head straight to the air-
port. It is possible to go there by bus,
but if there are more than two people
in your party, it might be cheaper to
rent a car. One of the main museums
here is Viking World, home of the rep-
lica Viking ship Íslendingur, which ac-
tually did sail to North America. There
is an exhibit devoted to the Norse dis-
covery of America, and also a puppet
representation of Norse Mythology.
Turning from Old Gods to New, one
could do worse than visit the Rock Mu-
seum. Perhaps because of its proximity
to the American Military base, Kefla-
vík was the birthplace of Icelandic rock
and roll. But the museum also takes in
Björk, Sigur rós and OMAM, and one
could easily spend a day watching docs
in the screening room.
Thursday at Gallery Fold: The Ice-
landic Sotheby’s, if you like, Fold has
an arts auction every month during
winter. But the gallery is open all year
round and almost everything here is
for sale at a set (if rather upmarket)
price. It is well worth a look to see
some of what is going on in Icelandic
art these days, even if you don’t take
anything home. Of particular interest
is Icelandic-English artist Haraldur
Michael Bilson, who has a very dis-
tinct, carnivalesque style. Even Clint
Eastwood owns one of his works.
Friday at Árbæjarsafn: The open air
museum is a good trek from down-
town Reykjavík, but getting there can
be half the fun. You can take a bus, but
even better is to rent a bicycle and cycle
through the Elliðaárdalur valley. Here,
you can listen to the sound of the river
gushing down the rocks, a little piece
of country bliss in the middle of the
big city—our own Central Park, if you
like. The museum itself is the raisin at
the end of the sausage, a collection of
authentic historical Icelandic archi-
tecture, from none-more-black 18th
Century Danish merchant’s houses to
old-style farms with their turf roofs,
and even wartime barracks.
Saturday at the Photography Mu-
seum: Small but easily accessible in
the centre of Reykjavík—and, better
still, free of charge—the Photography
Museum is located at the top of the
City Library. While they do have an
elevator, the stairs are recommended,
as they allow you to take in pictures
from over 100 years of Reykjavík his-
tory. When you have ascended you
are treated to the current exhibition,
a collection of photos by Þorvaldur
Örn Kristmundsson on the vanishing
farming culture of the Westfjörds. If
Iceland might seem to some like the
end of the world, then this is its far-
thest point. Also worth a look is a col-
lage by Charlotta María Hauksdóttir of
scenes outside her bedroom window at
all times of year, accompanied by cap-
tions from the newspapers that day.
Yes, Iceland might be desolate in parts,
but the contrast with what goes on in
many parts of the world makes you ap-
preciate the peacefulness even more.
Gallerí Fold
Einar Jónsson
Museum
Árbæjarsafn
Nordic House