The National Gallery of Iceland offers a creative and exciting art course for children in its art workshop at Fríkirkjuvegur 7.

The course is inspired by the museum's exhibitions, where participants will explore the artworks while focusing on enhancing their color and form perception. Children will have the opportunity to use a variety of materials and work in different mediums such as painting and sculpture.

The aim of the course is to encourage children to approach visual art with greater confidence and curiosity. Teaching will take place through hands-on experiences, discussions, and artistic creation. At the end of the course, an exhibition will be held for friends and family to showcase the results of the children’s work.

Children should wear clothing suitable for painting, splashing, and having fun! The workshop is accessible to all.

Dates: January16th – April 10th, 2025
Time: Thursdays from 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Age: 10–12 years old (children born 2013–2015)

Price: 53,000 ISK
20% sibling discount
Limited spots available, with 8–10 children per course.

https://www.abler.io/shop/frirvk/listasafn/product/Q2x1YlNlcnZpY2U6MzQ4MDY=?

Full names and phone numbers of two guardians

Any additional relevant information (e.g., allergies or special needs)

Instructor: Marta María Jónsdóttir, artist and expert at the National Gallery of Iceland

Ages 10–12 (Children born 2013–2015)

The Workshop – Art Course for Spring Semester 2025

Pizza Pizza – Can Toy Pizza Be Artwork?
April 5th, 14:00–16:00
We create sculptures from found objects, transforming old items we no longer use into interesting works of art. In this kids' club, you're welcome to bring small items that are no longer in use and need a new purpose. Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir’s exhibition that’s a Very Large Number — A Commerzbau will inspire us, where among other artworks there is an oversized toy pizza.

Can Toy Pizza Be Artwork?

Children's Culture Festival – The Trolls in the Mountains
April 12th, 14:00–16:00
We draw large trolls with the famous author Brian Pilkington and take a picture with the troll Tufta, who visits the main hall of the Museum during the Children’s Culture Festival.

The Trolls in the Mountains

Children's Culture Festival

Orla Valdemar Borch (earlier attributed to Jóhannes Kjarval), Lumpfish, no date LÍ-ÞGIG 2

The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries

Exhibition opening

Curator led tour – The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries


Curator Dagný Heiðdal and conservator Ólafur Ingi Jónsson welcome guests to the exhibition The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries. The exhibition examines fakes and forgeries that have come to light based on recent research. It traces how experts in the museum field authenticate objects in the collections that are under their care – a process that requires expertise in conservation science, art history, and connoisseurship.


Curator led tour

Curator led tour – The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries
April 23rd, 2 PM

Curator Dagný Heiðdal and Conservator Ólafur Ingi Jónsson welcome guests to the exhibition The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries. The exhibition examines fakes and forgeries that have come to light based on recent research. It traces how experts in the museum field authenticate objects in the collections that are under their care – a process that requires expertise in conservation science, art history, and connoisseurship.

Curator led tour – The Mystery of the Lumpfish and Other Stories of Fakes and Forgeries

Quality Moments

I Stood Outside in the Moonlight
April 26th, 14:00–16:00
We will explore Finnur Jónsson's artworks about  elves and the Elf Queen, as well as Óskasteinar (Wish Stones) by Björg Þorsteinsdóttir, which are on display in the Museum. Afterward, we will create our own sparkling wish stones that will last a lifetime. What do you wish for?

I Stood Outside in the Moonlight

On the Street Corner of Poetry and Visual Art
April 27th
Reading and book launch in the reading room of the museum at Hverfisgata. The event will take place during the Reykjavík Literature Festival 2025.
Further details and timing will be announced later.



Book launch

On the Street Corner of Poetry and Visual Art

Conversation with the artist Christian Marclay
Conversation with artist Christian Marclay in the reading room of the Museum at Hverfisgata, in connection with the exhibition Christian Marclay The Clock at the National Gallery of Iceland.
The talk will be held in English.

The renowned masterwork The Clock (2010) will be shown at the National Gallery at Fríkirkjuvegur from May 2nd to June 22nd 2025. This is an epic, 24-hour single channel video with sound. Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 2011 Venice Biennale and widely acclaimed as one of the most significant works of art of the 21st century, The Clock is both a profound meditation about time and an homage to the history of cinema. 

Conversation with the artist Christian Marclay

Artist led tour – Intimacies of the Everyday

Artist led tour with Orri Jónsson and Agnieszka Sosnowska through the group exhibition Intimacies of the Everyday. The exhibition features more than 60 photographs by renowned international contemporary artists, including Agnieszka Sosnowska, Joakim Eskildsen, Niall McDiarmid, Orri Jónsson, and Sally Mann. Curated by Pari Stave, head curator for exhibitions at the National Gallery of Iceland, the works in Intimacies of the Everyday were selected from discrete series within each artist’s practice and represent decades-long and ongoing preoccupations with photographing the people and places closest to home. The exhibition is organized around the unifying idea that certain images can only be achieved by close, attentive, and sustained observation.

Intimacies of the Everyday

Artist led tour

The Flying Bird
May 10th and 24th, 14:00–16:00
We explore birds in the exhibition Resistance; white ravens, the famous lapwing, and the swans with long necks, and paint our own beautiful birds that will fly with us into the summer. The bird workshop on May 24th is the last workshop of the winter season in the kids' club, but a new program will be released in the fall.

The Flying Bird

What Time Is It?
May 17th, 14:00–16:00
After visiting the exhibition The Clock, we reflect on time and create our own clocks that we can set to the time that works best for each person. Large and small clocks, alarm clocks, watches, mantel clocks that are new and old, funny, decorative, or simple.

What Time Is It?

Sigríður Regína Sigurþórsdóttir, an expert in time-based media, will discuss the artwork The Clock and the artistic career of Christian Marclay. The lecture will also cover time-based media and its development in art history.
The event will be held in the museum’s new educational space.
Guests will also have access to the exhibition.

Lecture

Christian Marclay, The Clock

Curator led tour – Kristján H. Magnússon – Revisited

Curator led tour by Dagný Heiðdal about the exhibition Kristján H. Magnússon -- Revisited. 
Kristján Helgi Magnússon’s paintings made a great impression when he made his entrance onto the art scene nearly 100 years ago. His reputation was not confined to Iceland, as he also held exhbitions of his art in cities on both sides of the Atlantic, where critics praised his landscapes, portraits and still lifes. In Iceland, on the other hand, the response to his art was mixed, and today few people are familiar with his work; his name is rarely mentioned in discourse on Icelandic art. Nonetheless his contribution to art is extensive, and interesting in many ways. In a forthcoming retrospective, the National Gallery of Iceland will showcase the works of this short-lived artist, who died in 1938 aged only 34, after a brief but interesting career.

Kristján H. Magnússon – Endurlit

Leiðsögn sýningarstjóra

Curator led conversation with Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir 
May 31st, 2 PM
Curator Dan Byers will have a conversation with Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir about the exhibition That’s a Very Large Number – A Commerzbau. 
Commissioned for the Icelandic Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2024, the exhibition will be reconceived at the National Gallery of Iceland. 
Hildigunnur is known for her nuanced artistic practice, which looks critically at the worldwide systems of production and distribution and the strange lives of the products they create. Her works draw attention to the small, disposable objects that are often the mass-produced accessories of material culture: packing materials, price tags, signage, and systems of display. She casts these objects in new roles, changing their value and meaning entirely as they are experienced outside of their original function.

Curator led conversation with Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir

The National Gallery of Iceland offers a fun and creative summer workshop for children aged 7–9 (born 2016–2018) in workshop of the National Gallery by the pond. The program is inspired by the museum's exhibitions, encouraging participants to explore artworks while developing their sense of color and form. Children will have the opportunity to experiment with various materials and artistic techniques, including painting and sculpture.

The goal of the workshop is to help children approach both nature and visual art with confidence and curiosity. Learning takes place through hands-on activities, discussions, and immersive experiences. At the end of the workshop, a small exhibition will be held, where family and friends can view the children's creations.

Participants should bring a light snack, dress according to the weather, and wear clothes suitable for painting, messy play, and creative fun!
The workshop is accessible to all.

Note: Children can be dropped off from 8:30 AM. The workshop runs from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and pickup is until 12:30 PM.

Helena Reynisdóttir, artist and Ingibjörg Hannesdóttir, education specialist at the National Gallery of Iceland

Where:
Listasafn Íslands 
Fríkirkjuvegur 7
101, Reykjavík

When:
10. – 13. june 9am – 12pm (28.000 kr. 4 days)
16. – 20. june 9am – 12pm (28.000 kr. 4 days)
23. – 27. june 9am – 12pm (35.000 kr. 5 days)

05. – 08. ágúst 9am – 12pm (28.000 4 days)
11. – 15. ágúst 9am – 12pm (35.000 5 days)

Limited spots available – maximum of 12 students per workshop.
20% sibling discount

For more information, contact: mennt@listasafn.is

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The Magic Workshop - Summer Course 2025

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