This year’s Globe of Goodwill, WORLD, by Guðjón Ketilsson is now available at the museum shop. Each year, the Globe is sold as a limited edition, but in the last few years the Globe has sold out rather quickly, more often than not. All proceeds go to benefit children and young people with disabilities.
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights covers this year’s edition of the Globe of Goodwill. The glass sphere is the scene of the human condition of grief and provocation that calls for a societal consensus to nurture a sense of humanity and its values in the face of a few but powerful forces. The Declaration of Human Rights is written in blue, intended to remind us of our globe, Earth, which is composed of 70% water, a similar amount of water to our human bodies.
The glass sphere is created as an art object now when 75 years have passed since the Declaration of Human Rights was ratified to enhance peaceful relations between the world’s nations. The Declaration stipulates human rights to which all people are entitled regardless of race, colour, sexual orientation, language, religion, opinion, nationality, origin, property, ancestry, or other circumstances. Therefore, the creation of the Globe of Goodwill has its source in common compassion, love of one’s neighbour and hope for more peaceful relations between nations.
Guðjón Ketilsson (b. 1956) is one of the most prominent and prolific artists in Iceland and the recipient of the Icelandic Art Prize in 2020. Guðjón has held over thirty solo exhibitions, including Jæja, a mid-career retrospective at Kjarvalsstaðir in 2022, and participated in group exhibitions around the world. His work can be found in all major museums in Iceland and in public spaces in Iceland and the Nordic countries. Guðjón has worked in equal measure at drawings and sculpture with an emphasis on craftsmanship. Through his work, he explores the human condition, the body and our everyday surroundings where familiar objects, forms, words or written text are brought to light in a new and often surprising context.
The Globe of Goodwill will be sold at the museum shop from December 7th until December 21st, or for as long as it remains in stock.