Einar Jónsson Museum 100th Anniversary
On the 23rd of July, the Einar Jónsson Sculpture Museum celebrated its 100 year anniversary. The museum building, designed by the artist Einar Jónsson (1874-1954) in Reykjavík, and its sculpture garden, were indeed opened to the public on the same day in 1923.
The celebration of this important occurrence became an opportunity to develop and experiment with a special format, based on the organization of a multi-layered event, intended to elaborate the history of the institution and to unfold new narrations around its contents and collections and their interplay with present stances.
The event began with two specially mediated tours, guided by outstanding experts on the building – architect Pétur Ármannsson – and the artworks – Sigurður Trausti Traustason, museologist and chairman of the board of the museum. Those tours took people in and out of the museum, through doors that normally are not open to them, enabling them to unfold new perspectives of the site and its contents.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland, opened the celebration along with AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir, the museum director. Guests were then guided through the building and outside, where participants were invited to occupy a set of tables, and to arrange themselves with drinks and food to make colorful creations inspired by the garden and Einar Jónsson’s sculptures. Food and drinks were designed to strengthen creativity and play. This part of the event was designed by Icelandpicnic, a duo founded be Eirný Sigurðardóttir and Áslaug Snorradóttir, that specialize in creative food related experiences.
Just after the guests arrived outdoors, Erna Ómarsdóttir and Saga Sigurðardóttir, two dancers from the Icelandic Dance Company, danced their version of the timeline of the museum inspired by the sculptures.
Alongside, guests could seek a bit of tranquility inside the museum where a harpist, Sólveig Thoroddsen, moved through the halls and played music, and where an artist, Jóhanna Ásgeirsdóttir, led a workshop using the postcards from the museum. During this seminar, participants were invited to redesign postcards, by elaborating their thoughts on what the museum through drawings and texts. The outcomes were then exhibited to share these new ideas about the role of the institution and its future.
With over 200 people visiting and wide media coverage, the event was a success; above all, it provided the participants with the opportunity to engage with the museums’ history and contents in various innovative ways, and thus has contributed to through a new light on the collection, enhance the institution’s mission and establish new interplays with the community.
