Reykjavik Arts Festival will take place 30 May-14 June 2026.

Metamorphlings is the first museum retrospective of the artist’s work. Comprising over 80 artworks, the exhibition offers a window into the evolution of Merry’s artistic output over the past decade. During this time, he has developed a body of work centered on the mask – operating as a conduit for transformation, a catalyst for performance, and a portal through which identity can mutate. The exhibition focuses on the moment of metamorphosis when form and self are fluid. 

The masks on view showcase Merry’s craftsmanship, which uniquely blends traditional techniques with contemporary, avant-garde expressions. Visitors encounter works in a range of mediums: embroidery, metalwork, 3D printing, jewelry, and interactive digital displays. Collectively, these works – the Metamorphlings – form a family of shape-shifting creations that can offer a deeper insight into Merry’s unending fascination with the natural world, as well as his abiding interest in archaeology and ancient ritual.

Many of the masks included in the exhibition were created for Björk Guðmundsdóttir as part of their long-standing artistic collaboration. The exhibition will also include commissions made for other notable collaborators, among them Tilda Swinton and Iris van Herpen. While many of these works have appeared in live performances and high-fashion contexts, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to engage with them as standalone artworks. 

The National Gallery presents echolalalia, an exhibition of works by Björk, the visionary singer, songwriter, performer, and poet, whose work over the past five decades has consistently pushed beyond conventional musical boundaries, interweaving art, nature, and technology with restless experimentation. Echolalia focuses on Björk as the creative force behind multimedia projects she has developed in collaboration with communities of musicians, artists, designers, dancers, filmmakers, and studio technicians. In three immersive installations, the public is given a rare opportunity to engage intimately with works of phenomenal visual, aural, and emotional depth.

The first gallery contains a new installation pulled from Björk’s forthcoming album. The work offers an introduction to the latest chapter of the artist’s ongoing explorations of transformation and collaboration. 

Two elegiac works each command their own galleries. Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil honor Björk’s mother, environmental activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, who passed away in 2018. Released alongside Björk’s 2022 album Fossora, composed and arranged by Björk, the works are presented at the museum on a theatrical scale. 

Ancestress reckons with the cyclical nature of life. Set in a remote valley in Iceland, the lamentation is staged as a ritualistic procession of musicians and dancers, including Björk herself, who is accompanied by her son, Sindri Eldon in the chorus. The film was made in close collaboration with many of Björk’s longstanding creative partners, including the filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang, and James Merry, co-creative director with Björk, and designer of the masks and ritual objects that adorn the musicians.

The polyphonic 9-part choral work Sorrowful Soil is a requiem expressing the loss of the mother as a life force. The oval-shaped video, directed by Viðar Logi and Björk as creative director, speaks to both human and geological time, filmed at the site of the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano. Thirty speakers arrayed through the gallery each transmit a single voice from the Hamrahlíð choir, conducted by Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir. As one walks through the gallery, the experience moves between singular and synergistic voices, invoking a sense of humanity that is at once individual and collective.

Björk and James Merry open exhibitions at the National Gallery of Iceland 

The annual meeting of Reykjavík Arts Festival Council of Representatives was held at Höfði on Wednesday, 5 November. The Council of Representatives consists of professional associations of artists and cultural institutions from across the country.

The Mayor of Reykjavík and the Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education alternate as chair and vice-chair. This year, Mayor Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir served as Chair of the Council, with Minister Logi Einarsson as Vice-Chair.

The meeting was opened by the Mayor, who then handed the floor to Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Chair of the board of Reykjavík Arts Festival, to deliver the Board’s annual report. Katrín represents the city of Reykjavík on the board and serves alongside Sigtryggur Magnason, the Minister’s representative and Vice-Chair, and Tryggvi M. Baldursson, who represents the Council of Representatives.

Lára Sóley Jóhannsdóttir, the festival’s Artistic Director, presented the draft program for the next Reykjavík Arts Festival, which will take place from 30 May to 14 June, 2026.

“The Council of Representatives provides vital support. It’s valuable to be able to present parts of the upcoming festival program, share new directions, and receive feedback from the owners and representatives of the country’s leading cultural institutions and associations,” said Lára.

The festival’s new Executive Director, Tinna Grétarsdóttir, presented the 2024 annual accounts along with the financial statements and the proposed 2025–2026 budget. The festival’s financial position remains strong, with this year’s results in line with expectations.

At the close of the meeting, the Minister addressed attendees, emphasizing the importance of culture and the arts in shaping social discourse and identity. Following his remarks, the Mayor adjourned the meeting and invited guests to tour Höfði.

Annual Meeting of the council of representatives 

The Reykjavík Art Museum is pleased to welcome the German artist Karin Sander, who has been in residence in Iceland, developing a major exhibition of her work. Opening on the 30th of May at Reykjavík Arts Festival in 2026, the exhibition traces her artistic career and highlights works inspired by her connection with Iceland over the past three decades.

Karin Sander is renowned for her conceptual approach to material and space, where she reimagines everyday objects, architecture, and digital media in innovative and thought-provoking ways. Among the new works to be featured are her Patina Paintings – paintings created by exposing untreated canvas to the natural environment over an extended period. Instead of traditional brushwork, these works evolve through a natural process of weathering, becoming spontaneous “landscapes” of the sites in which they are placed.

For this exhibition, new Patina Paintings are being produced at various locations around Iceland, reflecting Sander’s interest in the interplay between material, time, and place. During her recent stay, Sander travelled around the country and installed canvases in Arnarfjörður, Kerlingarfjöll, and on the north side of Hafnarhúsið.

Further information on the exhibition opening and related events will be announced later.

An extensive retrospective of Karin Sander will open at the Reykjavik Art Museum

Thank you for a great Festival!

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Björk and James Merry open exhibitions at the National Gallery of Iceland

Annual Meeting of the council of representatives

An extensive retrospective of Karin Sander will open at the Reykjavik Art Museum