The founders of Hafnarborg, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir and Sverrir Magnússon, shared a common interest in the arts over the course of their life together as husband and wife. Sverrir was already a young adult when he first visited an art exhibition, but he described the experience in this way: “I can distinctly remember the emotions that seeing a painting for the first time stirred in me.” The two of them were great collectors of art and in 1983 they donated their house at Strandgata 34 to the town of Hafnarfjörður, along with a generous donation of artworks, laying the foundations of The Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art.

Hafnarborg now presents the learning exhibition Stirring Emotions, which explores the connection of art and emotions. At the exhibition, select works from the museum collection are considered as representations of a wide range of emotions, expressed through art, while encouraging the pupils to reflect on the works. How are emotions portrayed by the artist? Can the materials themselves affect the viewer in their own way? Does an image have the power to stir similar emotions in people, or perhaps even different emotions?

The project is supported by the Museum Fund.

The visit is intended to be an insightful experience for the whole class, being aimed at pupils in grades 5 to 7. During the visit, the following skills, among others, will be developed, with the goal of meeting the competence criteria for art and social studies of the National Curriculum Guide, that the pupil be able to:

• Express their opinions and feelings in their own creation with relation to their experience.
• Analyse, compare and evaluate methods for creating various works of art.
• Discuss their own works and those of others in an active conversation with other pupils.
• Analyse and discuss the effect of imagery on the environment and society.
• Recognise the connection between their local community and the environment, history, culture and social activity.

The museum educator meets the pupils and teachers in the reception area of the museum and leads them on a tour of the learning exhibition Stirring Emotions. After the tour, the pupils will work on a project related to the theme of the exhibition. The visit will take approximately one hour and is free of charge. To schedule a visit, please contact the museum via telephone at 585 5790 or via email at [email protected]. It is of course also possible to schedule a visit of the museum’s other exhibitions.