Museum Night
10 February 1012
 The Culture House will be open from 7 – 12 pm on Museum Night, which this year is dedicated to amazing darkness. Varied exhibitions on art and culture will be open the whole time. In addition there will be a programme with a dark concert, a watercolour workshop on dire demons, a reading of gloomy folk tales, and a medieval scriptorium where you can try a quill, some vellum, and ink boiled from Icelandic herbs. Also, a guided tour will be given through the Millennium exhibition. Free entry to all events and exhibitions.
Creatures of the dark – a reading
At 8 and again at 9 pm, actor Sigurður Skúlason reads some folk tales about gloomy ghosts in the West Fjords inside the exhibition Child of Hope – Youth and Jón Sigurðsson. Just like any other child in centuries past, Jón Sigurðsson grew up hearing hair-raising tales of ghosts and sorcerers. Listen to the stories (in Icelandic) and then view the exhibition.
 Medieval Scriptorium
The Scriptorium in the Medieval Manuscripts exhibition is open from 7:30 – 10:30 pm. Try your hand at writing with a quill on vellum, using ink boiled from Icelandic herbs. The Árni Magnússon Institution’s educator will assist and explain this ancient art to guests.
Monster-tales in a self-guided tour
A self-guided tour for families through the Medieval Manuscripts exhibition is available at the reception. The hand-out includes stories of the mythological monsters Fafnir and Midgard-serpent, among other trivia. (In Icelandic).
 Watercolour workshop: Dire Demons
A watercolour workshop will be open from 8 to 10 pm inside the exhibition Sjáðu svarta rassinn minn – which literally means See my Black Ass – based on a newly published book by two sisters; Brynhildur and Þórey Mjallhvít Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir. In the book Brynhildur retells a few folk tales where women and girls are the central characters who confront the dark forces and overcome them. Þórey Mjallhvít painted the pictures in the book and oversees the workshop. Anyone can participate and paint the most ominous ogre imaginable, under her supervision. The pictures will be placed on exhibit tables to dry and will be on view over the entire weekend. On Monday the most horrifying haunt will be chosen and the winner gets the book! Brynhildur reads intermittently from the book for participants and others present.
Impressive Darkness – a concert
Dark Music Days – Epilogue. A concert with Anna Jónsdóttir, soprano, Sophie Schoonjans, on harp, and Örnólfur Kristjánsson on cello. The concert begins at 10 pm in the Library Room and is on the programme of the Dark Music Days festival.
 Guided tour of the Millennium exhibition
Millennium – phase one – is an overview of Icelandic modern art from the National Gallery. It spans the late 19th century to the present. Halldór Björn Runólfsson, director of the National Gallery, gives a guided tour of the exhibition at 9 pm.
Tracking nature in the Millennium exhibition
Children can track through the exhibition tracing a few threads of nature through the artwork. A hand-out in Icelandic.
Whimbrel – mouth painted watercolours and oil paintings by Edda Heiðrún Backman. The whimbrel is the central character in the exhibition, but birds have always been a fascination to Edda Heiðrún. They are a part of creation at large, and specifically of the skies, and symbolise freedom and independence. The exhibition is in the Culture Shop and Café.
Nation and Nature is a nature film by filmmaker Páll Steingrímsson will be screened continuously. In addition to man, the characters in the film are the animals around us; the Icelandic sheep dog, horse, puffin, eider, goose and seal. A film the entire family can enjoy together.
The Library Room – Meeting Rooms. The old reading room of the National Library is open as are six meeting rooms, with displays on art and leaders, in the west wing of the building.
The Café is open until midnight and serves hot and cold dishes and other refreshments.
It is worth noting that on Saturday, 11 February, there will be free admittance for young people, aged 25 and under. |
Saturday 4 February at 4 pm Anna Garðarsdóttir plays the violin in her graduation concert held here at the Culture House. She subsequently graduates from Sigursveinn D. Kristinsson College of Music. Everyone is welcome to attend and no entrance fee will be charged.
Over the winter months, September through May, the
Culture House offers a guided tour in English of the exhibition
The Medieval Manuscripts - Eddas and Sagas, and other exhibitions by demand, Mondays and Fridays at 3:00 pm.