Atlantica - 01.04.2006, Page 94

92 AT L A N T I CA
ICELANDa
SPECIAL PROMOTION
Look, Listen & Learn
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ICELAND
Sudurgata 41, 101 Reykjavík. 530 2200.
www.natmus.is
MAKING OF A NATION. The National Museum
of Iceland’s permanent exhibition Making of a
Nation tells the history of the Icelandic people
over 1200 years. The exhibition includes about
2,000 objects from the Settlement Age to the
present, and multimedia technology is used to
add depth to the past. Recent DNA-research on
the origin of the Icelandic people is introduced.
According to this research, the majority of women
who settled in Iceland, about 62%, were from the
British Isles, but the vast majority of male set-
tlers, about 80%, were of Nordic origin. In other
words it appears that today’s Icelanders are largely
descended from Nordic men who took women
from the British Isles as their wives. Researcher is
Agnar Helgason.
THE CULTURE HOUSE
– National Center for Cultural Heritage
Hverfisgata 15, 101 Reykjavík. 545 1400.
Open every day between 11am and 5pm.
Guided tours every weekday at 3:30pm, except
Wednesdays. www.thjodmenning.is
The Culture House is the place to immerse your-
self in Icelandic history and culture. Here you
find the country’s “crown jewels”, the Medieval
Manuscripts - Eddas and Sagas which are often
Iceland’s sole written sources of information on
the society, religion and conceptions of Northern
Europe from pagan times through the tumult of
Viking Expansion, the settlement of the Atlantic
Islands and the Christianization of northern peo-
ples. These sources have influenced many an artist
and writer: Wagner, Tolkien and JK Rowling, to
name a few. Explore the exhibits, browse in the
souvenir shop and relax in the café!
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ICELAND
Fríkirkjuvegur 7, Reykjavík. 515 9600. Open daily,
11am – 5pm, closed Mondays. Exhibition Rooms,
Gallery Shop, Net Café, Educational Center.
Free admission. www.listasafn.is
TWO RETROSPECTIVES FEATURING
THE WORK OF TWO CONTEMPORARY
ICELANDIC ARTISTS. 12 May – 25 June 2006.
BIRGIR ANDRÉSSON (b. 1955) has been an active
member of the Icelandic art scene ever since
his debut in the second half of the 1970s. His
works often deal with traditional Icelandic themes
and reflect his interest in Icelandic popular cul-
ture, its legacy and reality today. STEINGRÍMUR
EYFJÖRD (b. 1954) has explored the realms of
meaning in philosophy, the sciences, sociology and
anthropology. Drawings are a prominent vehicle
of expression in Steingrímur Eyfjörd’s works and
they display a close visual affinity with writing.
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