SÍM

"Since the First Encounter" exhibition opened Thursday 19 October at Gamle Munch in Oslo, Norway. The exhibition was planned in conjunction with the "Isdager" festival (https://www.isdager.no/islandsk-kunst), dedicated to celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the Icelandic People Association in Norway.

This anniversary exhibition will showcase a variety of talent that stems from the Icelandic and Norwegian coexistence and historical kinship. In the halls of Gamle Munch, you will see the artworks created by nine Icelandic, Norwegian, and Sámi women, whose lives have intertwined between the two distinct localities who continue old traditions through multi-media storytelling.

Since the first encounter with the distant land, Norway and Iceland stayed attuned. Tangled history and surroundings fostered the emergence of differences between the two nations. Unreachable fjords, hard weather, and the frigid Norwegian Sea have contributed to a sense of geographical and cultural distance between them. Yet, the voices of the Norse sea travelers, pilgrims, and those who were seeking a new life have been echoing for centuries in the towering mountains of Iceland. Their stories have been resonating in the flowing glacial waters, breathing life into nature and transforming myth into reality.

The artists in the exhibition are: a rawlings, Berglind Rögnvaldsdóttir, Hildur Bjarnadóttir, Kompani Bárrogiera, Cathrine Finsrud, Málfríður Aðalsteinsdóttir, Mari Bø, and Sigrún Hlín Sigurðardóttir.