96 cultural projects receive City Grants for 2025

The Culture, Sports, and Leisure Council of Reykjavík City awarded cultural grants and named Reykjavík's Art Group 2025 at Iðnó on Thursday, January 30, before a large audience. Council Chair Skúli Helgason presented the grant allocations.
Last fall, the Reykjavík Municipal Treasury received 225 applications for cultural grants, totaling nearly 390 million krónur for projects in 2025. This record number of applications reflects Reykjavík's thriving cultural scene.
The total funds available for cultural grants and collaboration agreements from the City Treasury for 2025 are 110,600,000 krónur. Of this, 39 million krónur are allocated to existing collaboration agreements, leaving 71,600,000 krónur for new grants and Reykjavík's Art Group. The Culture, Sports, and Leisure Council has systematically increased cultural funding by 15 million krónur annually for the past two years. They plan to increase this amount further in the coming year.
"These milestones are crucial. The increased funding for cultural grants provides essential support for grassroots initiatives in our Cultural City, alongside the ambitious work of our strong cultural institutions," says Skúli Þór Helgason, chair of the Culture, Sports, and Leisure Council.
This year, 96 arts and culture projects will receive City Grants. Additionally, 14 collaboration agreements are already in place with various cultural events and organizations, including Sequences Visual Art Festival, Lókal Theatre Festival, Dark Music Days, Reykjavík Ensemble, Reykjavík Sculptors' Association, Reykjavík Big Band, Mengi art space, Stockfish Film Festival, Reykjavík International Literary Festival, Hringleikur Circus, Reykjavík Jazz Festival, Nordic Affect chamber ensemble, Reykjavík Fringe Festival, and Art Without Borders festival.
Additionally, six City Festivals are in their final year of a three-year contract: Reykjavík Pride, DesignMarch, Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík Opera Days, Reykjavík Dance Festival, and Reykjavík International Film Festival. Each receives 5 to 10 million krónur annually from Reykjavík City.
Reykjavík City operates three independent and strong cultural institutions: Reykjavík City Library, Reykjavík Art Museum, and Reykjavík City Museum. The City's largest cultural contributions go to the Reykjavík Theater Company at the Reykjavík City Theater, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre. Various independent entities also receive housing and operational support from Reykjavík City, including Reykjavík Arts Festival, Tjarnarbíó, Dance Atelier, Bíó Paradís, The Living Art Museum, and Kling og Bang.

Reykjavík's Art Group 2025 is Open, an artist-run exhibition space that has been a driving force in the Icelandic art scene since opening in Grandi a few years ago. Open has hosted art exhibitions and diverse events characterized by interdisciplinary collaboration. It aims to showcase works by interesting artists who may not have received deserved attention in the art scene or belong to marginalized groups. Open will receive a 2.5 million króna grant in 2025, along with the formal title "Reykjavík's Art Group 2025".
The highest grant recipient of the year, aside from the Art Group, is the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra. They receive a 2.5 million króna grant. The orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and plans diverse, extensive concerts for the occasion. The Ungi Children's Performing Arts Festival receives 2 million krónur. The following each receive 1.5 million krónur: the International Children's Film Festival in Reykjavík, held annually at Bíó Paradís; the opera Lucia di Lammermoor planned by Reykjavík's Art Group for 2024; the performing arts group Óður; the established Múli Jazz Club concert series at Harpa; and the Design Talks conference, a flagship event of the City Festival DesignMarch. Other grants for 2025 range from 250,000 to 1.2 million krónur.
As usual, a panel of four representatives nominated by the Federation of Icelandic Artists and one by the Center for Design and Architecture reviewed cultural grant applications for 2025. They submitted a proposal to the Culture, Sports, and Leisure Council. This year's panel included Elín Hrund Þorgeirsdóttir, chair, Elvar Bragi Kristjónsson, Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson, Helga Guðrún Óskarsdóttir and Margrét Bjarnadóttir.