Life isn´t just a game

-it´s also a bed of roses

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

16 May – 30 August 

On Saturday, May 16th, the exhibition Life isn´t just a game – it´s also a bed of roses opens at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. The exhibition is a collaborative project between the Reykjavík Museum of Photography and the Department of Design and Architecture at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, curated by Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon (Goddur) Professor of Graphic design and Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir, Programme director of Product design.

In an exhibition text written by Goddur it says: “This is an exhibition of Icelandic image photography from the 1960s. Youth culture is coming into existence following the rock’;n’;roll revolution. Fresh breezes are blowing. The Icelandic nation has migrated from the countryside to the city. They still miss the rural past, however, and sing old songs about the charms of life on the farm. But they are looking to the future, with the focus on Icelandic industry and, along with it, lifestyle. That is the origin of these images. The word hönnun (design) is brand-new in Icelandic, fresh, pristine. A new generation has arisen, with different attitudes. They can’;t sit as their parents do: they need a different kind of chair. They are teenagers around 1960. They have no memory of the horrors of World War II. They have spring their hearts, and high hopes about travel to the moon. Dogs, chimps, and now men have been sent into space. The Beatles have sent Elvis packing, and skirts are short. Liquorice ties, nylon shirts, pointed shoes. Finned American eight-cylinder automobiles prowling around town. Khrushchev has slammed his shoe down on the lectern at the United Nations. The icons of those days, Sæmi Rock, Ómar Ragnarsson and Ellý Vilhjálms, sing songs of the open road. And it seemed that we could go anywhere we wanted.  Then there was a recession. Icelanders emigrated to Canada and Sweden in search of work. The hippies became angry, and protests broke out. But that’;s another story. This story is about optimism, and happy days.”

The exhibition is open weekdays 12-19 and weekends 13-17.