Nature in Transition – Shifting Identities

NATURE IN TRANSITION – SHIFTING IDENTITES

Opening 17 April, 2021.

The exhibition Nature in Transition – Shifting Identities offers a glimpse into the experiences, reflections and research of artists and designers living in the rapidly shifting north of the globe. Nature shapes the man-made environment, and vice versa; both currently in an accelerated state the likes of which we have not witness to before. By bringing together artists based in the West Nordic countries as well as Denmark, the exhibition further considers the long and intricate history of relations between the four countries, that seems particularly urgent to discuss now. Transitions demand revisions of former positions, a close analysis of our awareness and identities as individuals and societies: under the long arc of natural forces there are unique lives, unique communities, unique stories. Current and past natural events in Iceland remind us that it is not stability that is the natural state of things, it is constant transformation; of nature, of communities, of individuals.

On view are works by Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson, Emilie Dalum & Michael Richardt, Inuuteq Storch, Jóhan Martin Christiansen, Ólöf Nordal, Tinna Gunnarsdóttir, Rikke Luther and Thomas Pausz.
With the participation of Ana Luisa S. Diaz De Cossio and Khetsin Chuchan

Curated by Hanna Styrmisdóttir and Hulda Stefánsdóttir

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Iceland University of the arts (IUA) and the Nordic House in Reykjavík, conceived of as a contribution of the IUA to the Reykjavík Congress of the Universities of the Arctic (UArctic) network. The initiative is supported by grants from the Nordic Council of Ministers and from the Nordic Culture Fund.

Students in curatorial practice at the IUA participated in the making of this exhibition.