Museums in Strange Places is a podcast about Icelandic museums and museum culture. Hannah Hethmon visited Hafnarborg and chatted with the museum director, Ágústa Kristófersdóttir. Click here for information on the podcast or listen to the episode on Hafnarborg in the player below.

https://radiopublic.com/museums-in-strange-places-8jzaxp/ep/s1!50bd7166a9211de70c064fa097dffaeb28206918

Hafnarborg proudly announces the publication of an art book about the painter Eiríkur Smith, published in connection with the exhibition, Conversing with Existence, now on display in Hafnarborg. The book, which bears the same title as the exhibition, looks at Eiríkur Smith’s diverse carrier as a painter, being full of beautiful photos of Eiríkur’s work. Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson, Heiðar Kári Rannversson and Aldís Arnardóttir write texts for the book, in addition to Ólöf K. Sigurðardóttir, the former Director of Hafnarborg, who is also the curator of the exhibition and the book’s editor.

Eiríkur Smith’s (1925-2016) career was both long and wide-ranging. He addressed painting as a form of expression and created works that bear witness to a unique grasp on different styles, ranging from geometric abstraction to expressive abstract painting and realism. The human figure is often in the foreground, while the landscape and human creations form a powerful framework. His approach went through numerous changes in line with the times, in part due to the artist’s active pursuits into new territory.

Conversing with Existence is the fifth and last exhibition in a series that Hafnarborg began in 2010, where five different periods were examined throughout Eiríkur Smith’s long and diverse career. The book is published with five different book covers, with a select painting from each of the five periods. Buyers can therefore choose their favorite cover for their book shelf. The design of the book was in the hands of Ármann Agnarsson.

The book is available at Hafnarborg’s museum shop and major bookstores.

Ágústa Kristófersdóttir has been hired as Director of Hafnarborg.

Previously, Ágústa worked as the Director of The Museum Council of Iceland and before that as a curator for The National Museum of Iceland and the head of the exhibition department of The Reykjavík Art Museum.

Welcome, Ágústa, from the staff of Hafnarborg.