Please note that currently we are in the process of renovating the outer walls of the museum. Part of the walls will be smoothed down and recoated, before being repainted. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this project.
The museum will remain open as usual during the renovation.
Opening – Guðný Guðmundsdóttir: Cassiopeia
Friday May 31st at 5 p.m., we invite you to the opening reception of the exhibition Cassiopeia by Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, in Hafnarborg‘s lower gallery. The exhibition features new and recent works by the artist, made on paper and in clay, as well as video works. Through the mirror of art, the works invoke ideas of bruised ego, vanity and self-adulation, seeking inspiration from Greek mythology.
The viewer enters a world of references, encountering titles in various languages (German, French and English), inscriptions and named figures or beings from classical myths. Pulling us backwards and forwards in time, the works make us contemplate the relationships hidden within, forming a constellation that perhaps brings up more questions than answers.
Guðný Guðmundsdóttir (b. 1970) graduated from the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in 1993 and Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg in 2001. She has worked in visual art since, primarily focusing on traditional media, such as drawing, painting, collage, sculpture and photography. Guðný lives and works in Berlin.
Summer Workshops 2024 – Arts and Music
This summer, Hafnarborg will offer workshops for children, 6–12 years old, as in previous years. The groups will go on field trips in Hafnarfjörður and basic techniques of art will be introduced by exploring the environment, the museum’s exhibitions, creative work and play. The children will work on projects in different media – drawing, painting and moulding – with the aim of developing visual focus and inspiring creative thought and personal expression.
Two 5-day workshops and one 4-day worshop will be available for ages 6–9 and 10–12. The workshop starting June 24th will then bring in elements of music to the creative process, in connection with The Hafnarborg Songfest. At the end of this workshop, the children will participate in a family concert, as part of the festival’s programme, taking place on Friday June 28th at 5 p.m.
The instructor of the visual arts workshops will be Þóra Breiðfjörð and the instructor of the music workshop will be Björg Ragnheiður Pálsdóttir.
The following summer workshops are available:
June 10th–June 14th 6–9 years old: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
10–12 years old: 1–4 p.m.
June 18th–June 21st 6–9 years old: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
10–12 years old: 1–4 p.m.
June 24th–June 28th 6–9 years old: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
10–12 years old: 1–4 p.m.
The fee is 15,860 ISK for the 5-day workshops and 12,690 ISK for the 4-day workshop. We kindly ask that parents or guardians inform us of any special needs or requirements.
Note that there is limited availability for the summer workshops.
Easter is almost upon us and the staff of Hafnarborg therefore wishes the friends and supporters of the museum a very happy holidays. Opening hours during Easter are as follows:
Maundy Thursday March 28th Open 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
Good Friday March 29th Closed
Holy Saturday March 30th Open 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
Easter Sunday March 31st Closed
Easter Monday April 1st Open 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
Free entry – everyone welcome.
Icelandic Music Awards 2024 – Andrés Þór Performer of the Year
All of us at Hafnarborg would like to congratulate Andrés Þór Gunnlaugsson for receiving the Icelandic Music Award 2024 as “Performer of the Year” in the field of jazz and blues music.
Andrés Þór is the founder and artistic director of the Afternoon Concert Series at Hafnarborg, dating back to the year 2020, but the concert series has featured many of the brightest stars of the jazz scene in Iceland, often along with Andrés on guitar.
We would then like to congratulate all of those that were nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards, being delighted to see so many familiar names and faces among the nominees.
A big applause for all of our outstanding musicians!
Closed for Installation – Opening January 13th
Please note that Hafnarborg will be closed for installation from January 3rd until January 13th. We would then like to invite you to the first opening of the year on Saturday January 13th at 2 p.m. In the museum’s upper gallery, we present the exhibition Tidemark, a retrospective of works by Jónína Guðnadóttir, and, in our lower gallery, Pointers, an exhibition of new works by Þór Sigurþórsson.
If you have business with the museum shop during this time, feel free to call us at 585 5790.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this and hope to see you at the opening.
The Globe of Goodwill 2023 – Now Available at Our Shop
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.
Landscape for the Chosen Ones – Reopening
For the past few weeks, Hafnarborg has been going through some renovations, as we have been installing a new lighting system in the upper gallery of the museum, as well as painting the ceiling of the gallery.
We are then delighted to invite you back to the exhibition Landscape for the Chosen Ones which will reopen to guests from today, Saturday December 2nd.
The participating artists are Arna Beth, Fritz Hendrik IV, Margrét Helga Sesseljudóttir, Sól Hansdóttir, Vikram Pradhan, Bíbí Söring and Þrándur Jóhannsson, but the exhibition also features works by Eiríkur Smith, Patrick Huse and Sigrid Valtingojer from the collection of Hafnarborg and the ASÍ Art Museum.
The curators of the exhibition are Eva Lín Vilhjálmsdóttir and Odda Júlía Snorradóttir.
The Art Council of Hafnarborg has selected the proposal submitted by Þórhildur Tinna Sigurðardóttir from those received during the museum’s open call for Hafnarborg’s next autumn exhibition, scheduled for 2024. The title of the exhibition is Unknown Benevolence, bringing together a group of women and non-binary artists who will exhibit new works alongside older works.
Unknown Benevolence is an excursion hoping to find a truth about the current moment and about art as a healing force, celestial power or even a message from beyond. The exhibition aims to create an organised yet organic whole in Hafnarborg that incites you to heal when need be and take charge when the time is right. Conveying a message of healing that sharpens the mind but softens the heart and nurtures a newfound strength to face hard facts, yet be soft and kind when need be to embrace ideas foreign to one’s own reality. All of this resonating inside you, a micro cosmos that itself aligns with the universe itself.
The exhibition hopes to conjure up healing ancient powers that have been in existence for longer than we could imagine, in order to face our shared history and challenging present circumstances. What the artists then have in common is creating works that speak to these healing forces or creating works in order to heal, which the curator herself likes to think of as presenting an unknown benevolence. The exhibition will take a closer look at this unknown benevolence, which is described by Þórhildur Tinna as being the undercurrent of reality or an energy that is ephemeral, but feels constant at the same time. Furthermore, this constitutes an expansive force in the universe, but also a subtle vibrancy that resonates within you. Always charged with the possibility of positive change and healing.
The participating artists will be announced at a later date.
Þórhildur Tinna Sigurðardóttir is an art historian, theorist and curator that is employed at the Icelandic Art Center. There she takes part in the organisation of artist-run biennial Sequences and the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Bienniale as project manager of international projects. She is one of the main organisers of LungA Art Festival in East Iceland, which is presented annually by a group of young cultural practitioners who are equally passionate about visual art and culture. Þórhildur Tinna received her BA degree in art history and theory from the University of Iceland and then went on to finish her postgraduate studies in art and cultural management at King’s College, London, where she focused on curatorial studies and art theory.
This will be the fourteenth exhibition in Hafnarborg’s Autumn Exhibition Series, where the objective is to collaborate with different curators, who get the chance to submit their own proposals, allowing new voices be heard. The Director and Art Council of Hafnarborg then review the submissions and select the winning proposal each year.
Upper Gallery Closed from November 8th
Please note that the exhibition Landscape for the Chosen Ones, which opened in the museum’s upper gallery this autumn, will be temporarily closed during the installation of a new lighting system in the space, from Wednesday November 8th.
The exhibition will remain closed until early December, but we will post an update on the reopening of the exhibition later this month.
The exhibition VALUE, featuring select works from the Hafnarborg Collection, will however remain open during regular opening hours of the museum during this period.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.