SÍM

In January 2022 we held a very successful Light Festival where artists used light to illuminate our town during the dark days of January. During the Icelandic winter, the days are short and the nights long and January is the darkest month of the year. To welcome in 2024 we wish once again to 'Light Up' our town by engaging artists to create artworks with light, through the use of LED’s, projection, shadows, reflections etc, indoors and outdoors around the town of Skagaströnd. The event will culminate in an art walk event on the 27th and 28th January for the local northwest community and overseas travellers This event is designed for community interaction and engagement to broaden the understanding of what is ‘art’.

The intangibility of light has the ability to change our perception of spaces and we are looking for artists who can create immersive light installations and projections using light in creative and innovative ways. This is a call to artists who work with ‘light’ for expression of interest to participate in this project.
Photo Credit - Verena Faisst and artist Leandros Ntolas

Skagaströnd is a small seaside village in the northwest of Iceland with a population around 450. The NES Artist Residency has been in operation for 15 years and during this time has hosted approximately 1200 artists from 52 countries. We have access to abandoned buildings, interesting structures and dark/windowless spaces that would work well with light and projections.

We are looking initially for expressions of interest from artists detailing the type of ‘light works’ they will most likely produce and the equipment required with estimated costs. In further discussion with these artists we will select those with works and material needs that will most suit the environment and budget we have. At least one place will be allocated to an artist who can provide an interactive work that will engage children.

A range of images of the town of Skagaströnd can be found at http://arnigeir.123.is/ This website by local photographer Arnie Geir, documents life in Skagaströnd and will give you a good overview of the many sites we have in town which would be suitable for a ‘light’ intervention! You can see images of the 2022 Light Up festival on our website.