Amazing Winter Lights Festival ahead
The annual Winter Lights Festival will be held on February 1-3 in all six municipalities of the capital region. These works of art appeal to all the senses and make people think, as well as illuminate the short day in a lively way. There will be something for everyone these days.
The purpose of the Winter Lights Festival is to enliven city life during the darkest winter months by connecting different cultural elements related to the festival theme, light and darkness.
The festival is divided into three parts: Light Trail, Swimming Pool Night and Museum Night, and admission is free. See the detailed program at winterlightsfestival.is
Experience at the Penitentiary
The festival will be held on February 1st at 19:00 in front of the Penitentiary on Skólavörðustígur.
Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson will open the festival by turning on the light artwork Absorbed by Light, by Gali May Lucas, a designer from Great Britain and Karoline Hinz, a sculptor from Berlin. This participatory work has been a hit at the Amsterdam Light Festival.
Three creatures sit side by side on a bench and show traditional smartphone use: heads out, fingers writing messages on the phone or scrolling between pages on the Internet, and faces light up from the phone screen. Although they are physically there, their minds are far away. Visitors to the Winter Lights Festival can experience this feeling by sitting among the creatures in the artwork.
Light Trail
The light artworks form a fun trail of light at this year's Winter Lights Festival. 21 works creatively illuminate the short day and form a pleasant walking path from Hallgrímskirkja to Reykjavík City Hall.
As usual, a piece of light art will be projected on Hallgrímskirkja, and this time it is The Ice is Melting at the Pøules by the Danish artist Martin Ersted, who is a member of the artist group Båll & Brand. The work is done in collaboration with scientists and artists around the world to raise awareness of the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN's global goals. The work has been shown at festivals across Europe.
Tölva Völva
In Reykjavík City Hall, the divination art exhibition "Tölva Völva" will be offered, where the interaction of art, music, innovation and mysticism will pleasantly surprise the audience.
Two light artworks sponsored by Veitur
Glitsteinar- by the Fish Company At Vesturgata
Works by Katerina Blahutova, visual artist and Francesco Fabris, sound artist. The work is a light sculpture that evokes connections with winter and darkness, but also with the relationship between man and nature. Man-made ice cubes made of treated plastic remind us of the fallibility of glacial ice and the human part in the changes that are taking place in nature. The choice of location is intriguing and the work will surprise passers-by.
Hafnar.haus - Hringekja
Artwork by Owen Hindley, digital artist. The idea behind the work is to mobilize a community of creative artists in artist-run studios in Hafnar.haus during the festival. A diverse approach to different works and the visibility of the group working in Hafnar.haus will be offered while drawing attention to an unusual perspective in the townscape.
Light artworks and related events will be running every evening during the festival from 18:30-22:30.
Swimming Pool Night
Pool night will be held on Thursday, February 1. All the rural associations in the capital area participate and a total of thirteen swimming pools will be open and entry is free.
Events will be of various kinds and guests will experience a unique and unusual evening. Light, darkness and joy will reign supreme, there will be a live lecture about swimming culture in Iceland, DJs will provide the music on the poolside, the circus will entertain and much more. Guests are encouraged to go swimming, relax and enjoy the moment. Free entry.
These pools participate in Swimming Pool Night:
Laugardalslaug, Vesturbæjarlaug, Sundhöll Reykjavíkur, Breiðholtslaug, Grafarvogslaug, Dalslaug, Árbæjarlaug, Sundlaug Kópavogs, Salalaug, Lágafellslaug, Seltjarnarneslaug, Ásgarðslaug and Ásvallalaug.
There will be a program in the swimming pools from 17:00 to 22:00
Museum Night
Winter Lights Festival guests are invited to go to numerous museums (around 40 in total) on Museum Night on February 2 and view countless exhibitions in the capital area, where a fun and varied program will be offered. Emphasis will be placed on offering non-traditional events this evening and giving visitors a new perspective on the museums.
In Hafnarhús, Baldur Þórhallsson, professor of political science with micro-guides about the exhibition Valdatafl-Erró, will be a recorder of the times who will provide an informative insight into the context of the works and their political contemporaries. Vitamin D artists will perform and the Forward Dance Group will present a dance piece.
At Kjarvalsstaðir, Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir will be an artist with an artist's guide about the retrospective 0° 0°Núlleyja at 20. and 21. The museum's art storage will be opened, where there is a unique opportunity to view works of art in the museum's possession accompanied by a museum expert. Registration is required.
There will be micro-guided tours of the exhibition Kjarval and the 20th Century: When the present began.
In Ásmundarsafn, an open drawing workshop will be offered for people of all ages with the artist Sigurður Ámundson from 17-20.
A colourful program will be held in all museum buildings of Reykjavík Art Museum free of charge for visitors from 17.00 - 23.00.
At the House of Collections, ethnologist Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir will talk about ghosts and the different types of ghosts that can be found in Iceland, such as zombies, ghosts, exorcists and phantoms. A few well-chosen ghost stories will be told. All welcome, who dare!
At the National Museum, there will be a photo exhibition If Garden Elves Could Speak, which is a unique documentation about the caravan settlement at Laugarvatn, which has now come to an end. Bjössi troubadour will show up and play music for guests.
Unpredictable Vikings from the Rimmugýgur Viking Association visit the Saga Museum on Safnanótt, show off their weapons and clothing, chat with visitors and pedestrians and entertain them to their heart's content.
Entertainment program in Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær and Seltjarnarnes
There will be an interesting and lively program at the Winter Lights Festival in Kópavogur. Water ballet, trumpeters and poetry performances, stargazing and predictions, silent disco, Sigga Kling fortune teller and a Middle Eastern music party.
In Hafnarfjörður there will be a children's concert, magic symbol workshop, lectures, concerts, and guided tours of exhibitions in Hafnarborg and Nidra meditation.
In Garðabær, there will be a program intended for families that will take place in the library, where choir singing and bingo will be offered, among other things. The Design Museum will offer an exhibition opening, jazz and music.
In Mosfellsbær, Álafoss will be enveloped in a purple glow every day of the festival, and it is ideal to make a trip there at dusk. Free swimming in Lágafellslaug on Swimming Pool Night and an entertainment program is offered. On Museum Night there will be a pleasant atmosphere in the Mosfellsbær Library. Children will be invited to bring their old books and choose new ones instead at the Little Exchange book market, Spilavinir will attend and a craft workshop will be offered.
At Seltjarnarnes, a variety of events will be offered for the whole family. Bingo, art exhibitions, music, children's book authors Bergrún Íris and Gunnar Theódór come to visit, orienteering, crafts, prizes, sausages, popsicle sticks and much more fun.
Free entry for all at the Winter Lights Festival events. Everyone welcome!