It has been the yearly tradition for Reykjanes Art Museum‘s Ljósanótt exhibition to feature local works, whether by local talent or local inspiration. This year, the 15th anniversary of the museum, is no exception and seeks to combine the two; local artists inspired by the world around them.
The photography competition “One day in Suðurnes” was announced and anyone who lived in Suðurnes invited to participate. The photographers, both professional and amateur, were to submit photographs of people or nature on Suðurnes taken between the 17th of June 2017 and the 17th of June 2018. Photos taken outside of this time period were not eligible. The goal was to create a multi-faceted image of the everyday life of locals during this year. Each photo would show a snapshot of the photographer’s life this year and together the submitted photographs would create a mosaic out of daily life in Suðurnes. What happened in Suðurnes this year? What were we doing? Young and old, people and animals, the everyday and during celebrations, politics and religion, town and nature, family and work, as well as all the other little pieces that our daily lives are made of.
There was great response to the project, about 60 photographers submitted 360 photographs displaying the diverse life that happens in Suðurnes. The photographic collection can now be viewed at the Reykjanes Art Museum as part of Duus Museum’s Ljósanótt exhibit. Some photos are displayed in print, both large and small, while others are displayed digitally on screens. All of the photographs displayed are also printed in this catalogue along with the names of their authors. A committee chose and ranked the top five submissions and awarded 25 other entrees with special recognition. On the committee were Kjartan Már Kjartansson mayor of Reykjanesbær, Páll Ketilsson editor of Víkurfréttir and Þuríður Aradóttir Braun manager of Visit Reykjanes. The exhibit was curated by Inga Þórey Jóhannsdóttir artist, Oddgeir Karlsson photographer and Valgerður Guðmundsdóttir cultural director of Reykjanesbær.
The idea for this project comes from our neighbors in Faroe Islands as part of our collaboration established last year between the Reykjanesbær Art Museum and the Faroe Islands Nordic House. Their side of the project was called “A year in Faroe Islands” spanning from the Faroese Flagday of 2016 to Flagday of 2017 where all submitted photographs were displayed on the Tórshavn Nordic House’s summer exhibit. Guidelines were the same calling for photographs of either nature or daily life in the Faroe Islands during that time period and were all submitted photographs displayed in the Nordic House exhibition either in print or on screens. In the Duus Museum Movie Hall, Reykjanes Art Museum is now displaying all twelve award winning Faeroese photographs in print along with other submissions being displayed on screens.
“A picture is worth a thousand words” the saying goes and that is a good description of this project. The exhibitions together give the museum visitors a fascinating insight into the daily lives of these