Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Side 46

From outside the blocky building it
shares with the local library, Safnahús
Borgarfjarðar passes as the kind of
low-tech local museum one finds in
any small town around the world. You
know the type—glass cabinets full of
staid-faced porcelain dolls, phased-out
farm tools, empty eggshells arranged
by species—the dust-coated debris of
obsolescence.
In fact, through most of its history,
Safnahús Borgarfjarðar fit neatly into
this category of museum: it featured
a smorgasbord of artifacts from Bor-
garnes’ past, as well as enough taxi-
dermied animals to fill an Icelandic
Noah’s Ark. The museum continued
in this capacity until 2007, when
Guðrún Jónsdóttir took over the posi-
tion of museum director. A passionate
supporter of the arts (and mother of
Grapevine illustrator Elín Elísabet),
she saw the untapped creative poten-
tial in this motley collection.
A different kind
Guðrún explains the museum’s meta-
morphosis in the orientation speech
she gives to every visitor. “This is a dif-
ferent kind of museum. And the reason
it is different is because of him,” she
says, gesturing to a photograph
of Snorri Freyr Hilmars-
son, a set designer
based in Reykja-
vík. She invited
Snorri to re-
interpret the
m u s e u m ’ s
c o l l e c t i o n
t h r o u g h
an artistic,
rather than
curatorial,
lens.
The result
w a s ‘Bör n í
100 ár’ (‘Chil-
dren Throughout
a Century,’ in Eng-
lish), a visual poem of
an exhibition that opened in
2008. Snorri transformed the main
hall of the museum into a floor-to-ceil-
ing family album, its undulating black
walls papered with images of daily life
in twentieth-century Iceland. Some of
the photographs camouflage hinged
doors, behind which lie artifacts and
snippets of text that share
only the most tenuous
of con nection s.
A por trait of
three sisters,
for example,
o p e n s t o
r e v e a l a
s t a i n e d
t e n n i s
dress and
a passage
f r o m a
m e d i c a l
t e x t d e -
s c r i b i n g
waterbirth. A
snapshot of a
bright-eyed baby
hides a taxidermied
duck ling and a verse
about the ephemeral nature of
childhood.
Endless, dreamlike field
Other than the hidden excerpts, ‘Börn í
100 ár’ is a textless installation; Snorri
made the conscious decision not to in-
clude any of the explanatory placards
one usually sees in museums. He sug-
gests that visitors take the time to walk
through the room without opening any
of the cabinets. The effect is an inti-
mate, universalising experience that
anyone—regardless of age, nationality
or reading ability—can understand. (If
visitors wish to learn the provenance
of each photograph, they can pick up
a catalog—offered in a variety of lan-
guages—from the front desk.)
Snorri and Guðrún collaborated
again to create the museum’s second
permanent exhibition, ‘Ævintýri fug-
lanna’ (renamed ‘Oh, to be a bird!’ in
English), which opened in 2013. Here,
Snorri tackles the museum’s prodi-
gious collection of taxidermied birds
in a disorienting space that recalls a
Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room. Rather
than ferreting away the specimens in
cabinets or drawers, Snorri arranges
Travel
Distance from
Reykjavík:
75km

Further
information:
safnahus.is
How to get there:
Drive Route One
North
46The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 19— 2018
Oh, To Be
A Bird!
Local history becomes art at Safnahús Borgarfjarðar
Words: Jennifer Fergesen Photos : Einar G.G. Pálsson
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