Events
Seminar about Art Therapy, honoring Sigríður Björnsdóttir
14:00
Address
Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir, Museum Director
14:10
Art Can Heal
Ágústa Oddsdóttir, teacher, artist and the author of Art Can Heal. The Life and Work of Sigríður Björnsdóttir. Egill Sæbjörnsson, artist and coordinator of the book.
Ágústa and Egill discuss her reasons for writing Art Can Heal and how the book gives detailed descriptions of Sigríður Björnsdóttir’s radical artistic endeavor and vision to improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of children in hospitals.
14:30
Unchartered path that links art, medicine and mental health
Abigail Ley, listfræðingur og barnataugalæknir / Abigail Ley, MD, MA, paediatric neurologist and art historian, Medical Director of Neurodevelopmental Conditions Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Miami, FL
Abigail Ley will be discussing the impact of creative therapy on the developing child, in particular the positive effect on mental and behavioral health. The talk will include recent clinical research data, and highlight specific examples expressed by Sigríður Björnsdóttir in Art Can Heal.
15:50
Café
16:00–16:45
Panel discussions
Ágústa Oddsdóttir
Ágústa Oddsdóttir is a visual artist and author. She completed a BA degree in sociology and English from the University of Iceland in 1973 and a degree in education from the same institution. She has taught sociology at the upper secondary level and has authored teaching materials in the field. She commenced full-time studies in fine arts in 1991 and graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1997. Ágústa has participated in art exhibitions such as Mom’s Balls 1, Mom’s Balls 2 and Umhverfing, as well as dedicating herself to writing projects. Her book Þegar Kjósin ómaði af söng was published in 2021, and Art Can Heal. The Life and Work of Sigríður Björnsdóttir was published by König Books in Cologne, Germany last September.
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Egill Sæbjörnsson
Egill Sæbjörnsson is a visual artist, musician, and architecture interventionist, born in Iceland and currently based in Berlin. He has been making artworks that bring together 3D environments, digital projections, technology, and sound since the 1990s. These range from small intimate installations in museum and gallery settings to larger-scale permanent architectural installations. Sæbjörnsson conceives his work as a technological continuation of painting and sculpture, exploring the space between the virtual and physical. His work is playful and humorous but always probes deeper ontological and philosophical questions.
Egill Coordinated the book Art Can Heal. The Life and Work of Sigríður Björnsdóttir.
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Dr. Abigail Ley
Dr. Abigail Ley is a pediatric neurologist within the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Brain Institute. She earned her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Dr. Ley completed a residency in pediatrics and fellowship in child neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities at George Washington University/Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC. Her clinical area of expertise includes autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Prior to entering the field of medicine, Dr. Ley received a master’s degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, England. Dr. Ley also edited the book Art Can Heal, which focuses on the pioneering work of art therapist and artist Sigríður Björnsdóttir.
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Ingimar Ólafsson Waage
Ingimar Ólafsson Waage is a visual artist and the Head of the Department of Arts Education at the Iceland University of the Arts. He has extensive experience teaching the visual arts and philosophical dialogues in elementary education. He studied painting at the Iceland College of Arts and Crafts and École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, France. He holds an M.Ed. degree in philosophy and sociology of education from the University of Iceland. Currently, he is working on a PhD thesis on the moral value of visual arts education. His research interests include democracy, arts education, philosophical inquiry, and critical thinking skills.
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Simona Dvorák
Simona Dvořák is a curator and art historian based in Paris. She combines her curatorial experience with research and writing, with a particular interest in the performativity of social and epistemic justice while challenging historical narratives. As a curator at the Initiative for Practices and Visions of Radical Care (founded by Nataša Petrešin Bachelez and Elena Sorikina), she explores the practice of living archives and intersections of art and care.
The Initiative for Practices and Visions of Radical Care, started in 2020 in the Greater Paris region, is a diverse group of practitioners of arts, crafts, philosophies, healing and therapy coming from vastly spread geographies. Neither a classical collective nor a rigid structure, the Initiative is researching and reinventing modes of sustainable institutionalism. Based on friendships as well as professional bonds, it functions as an ecosystem and fosters interdependence and solidarity beyond identity. The focus on care is enacted as a flow of activities that nurture individuals and sustain social, environmental and political bonds, focusing as much on processes and methods as on outcomes. Through fluid artistic and curatorial ventures, the Initiative embraces the languages, energies, histories, landscapes, bodies, and materials that reflect a non-extractive and sensitive relationship to the human and non-human alike.
Stjórnandi pallborðsumræðna / Moderator: Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir, safnstjóri Listasafns Íslands / Museum Director
fim
23. jan
14:00—16:00
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.
Registration:
https://www.abler.io/shop/frirvk/listasafn/product/Q2x1YlNlcnZpY2U6MzQ4MDY=?
Required information for registration:
Child's full name
Child's ID number
Payer's full name and ID number
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
fim
23. jan
15:00—16:30
Exhibition opening!
Intimacies of the Everyday: Photographs by Agnieszka Sosnowska, Joakim Eskildsen, Niall McDiarmid, Orri Jónsson, and Sally Mann
We invite you to the opening of the group exhibition, Intimacies of the Everyday, featuring more than 60 photographs by renowned international contemporary artists, including Agnieszka Sosnowska, Joakim Eskildsen, Niall McDiarmid, Orri Jónsson, and Sally Mann. The exhibition is 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. The works in the exhibition speak eloquently to the photographers’ intimate familiarity with their subjects and thus the intrinsic tenderness in their approach. In turn, the photographs also reveal the sitters’ willing participation in the artistic process, an implied trust and understanding that at times functions as creative collaboration.
The exhibition will be on view at the museum from January 24 – May 4, 2025. The opening is timed to coincide with the biennial Icelandic Photography Festival, January 17–26, 2025.
The exhibition is sponsored by the American Friends of the National Gallery of Iceland, the Danish Arts Foundation, Ny Carlsberg Foundation, and the US Embassy in Iceland. Agnieszka Sosnowska and Orri Jónsson received funding support from Myndstef.
fös
24. jan
17:00—19:00
Troll Play and Clay Workshop with Ūgh and Bõögâr and Egill Sæbjörnsson
January 25th, 14:00–16:00
A fun kids' club event where we make trolls and troll jewelry out of clay and listen to a reading by Egill Sæbjörnsson, the visual artist, from his newly translated book about the trolls Ūgh and Bõögâr. The folklore exhibition Stand Still and Turn to Stone, which features ghosts, elves, and trolls is open in the Project Gallery, where you can see a Egill’s troll ring and imagine the size of a troll!
lau
25. jan
14:00—16:00
Curator’s led tour – Intimacies of the Everyday
January 26th, 2 PM
Head curator Pari Stave will guide visitors 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.
This event will be held in English. The exhibition coincides with the Icelandic Photography Festival.
sun
26. jan
14:00—16:00
Good Thursday
On the last Thursday of every month, the National Gallery of Iceland will be open until 10:00 PM.
Follow the program of Good Thursdays on the National Gallery of Iceland's social media and website.
fim
30. jan
10:00—22:00
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.
Registration:
https://www.abler.io/shop/frirvk/listasafn/product/Q2x1YlNlcnZpY2U6MzQ4MDY=?
Required information for registration:
Child's full name
Child's ID number
Payer's full name and ID number
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
fim
30. jan
15:00—16:30
What Did I Do Today?
February 1st and 15th, 14:00–16:00
We explore our own everyday life and find inspiration from photographs in the exhibition Intimacies in the Everyday. The graphic novel format will be used in the workshop, with photographs also playing a role.
lau
1. feb
14:00—16:00
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.
Registration:
https://www.abler.io/shop/frirvk/listasafn/product/Q2x1YlNlcnZpY2U6MzQ4MDY=?
Required information for registration:
Child's full name
Child's ID number
Payer's full name and ID number
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
fim
6. feb
15:00—16:30
Fly, Fly Butterfly
February 8th and 22nd, 14:00–16:00
We flutter into the Museum, fly through the beautiful installation DeCore by Dodda Maggý, and then create our own butterflies to fly home with. We reflect on nature, symmetry, and patterns that appear to us every day.
lau
8. feb
14:00—16:00