Museums and Galleries in Iceland

Museums and Galleries in Iceland

For such a small city, Reykjavík abounds with museums. It’s no wonder, since the country’s history is unique and the artistic spirit of its inhabitants is almost like a force of nature. You can discover a quirky young artist at the Living Art Museum, get a look at Iceland’s outlandish national costumes at the National Museum, and finish up the day with a lesson on how to properly milk an Icelandic cow at Arbaer Open Air Museum.

Hafanhus

Leading venue for contemporary art

The old harbour warehouse Hafnarhus, offers a progressive exhibition program with local and international contemporary artists.

The work of current notables, art canons and newcomers are presented in six galleries. Hafnarhus is also home to the works of Erro (b. 1932), a significant player in the international pop art scene.

Hafnarhus is located in the oldest part of Reykjavík, where the town’s boats and first docks lay. The building was erected in the 1930s and at the time it was one of the largest buildings in the country. It was renovated by Studio Grandi architects in 1998-2000 to house the Reykjavík Art Museum.

The museum shop is intriguing and the small cafe on the 2nd floor has a great view overlooking Mt. Esja and the old harbour.

Tryggvagata 17, 101, Reykjavík

Kjarvalsstadir

Architectural gem housing art of the past and present

Named after the beloved Icelandic painter, Johannes S. Kjarval (1885 – 1972) Kjarvalsstador was built to house the extensive collection of his work and as an exhibition venue for modern and contemporary art and design.

The artist’s love for nature has inspired Icelanders to consider the landscape in different scales and dimensions. Kjarval paints not only what is visible to the naked eye, but also reveals hidden worlds of folklore and personal mysticism.

Inspired by Nordic modernist design and built in 1973, the museum building faces a large city park, which makes for a delightful view through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

A unique art destination with a refined exhibition program, interesting museum shop, abd a café offering delicious light meats.

Flokagata 24, 105 Reykjavík

Asmundarsafn

Icelandic Lava Stones. Photo by Olga

Utopian artist’s studio

The sculptor Asmundur Sveinsson  (1893 – 1982) designed, worked and lived in this beautiful building, which now serves as part of the Reykjavík Art Museum.

The white dome structure is surrounded by Sveinsson’s sculptures in the garden, both his earlier massive figures and his later light abstract compositions. The inside of the building offers a unique experience as the artist’s design, inspired by vernacular Mediterranean architecture, is a work of art in its own right.

Asmundur Sveinsson was truly a modern man and took part in building a modern society in Iceland through his art and his opinions. Sveinsson’s work is always on display at Asmundarsafn.

A perfect visit on a walk through the Laugardalur area, with its nearby thermal pool, botanic garden and the Reykjavík Park and Zoo.

Flokagata 24, 105 Reykjavík

Arbaer Open Air Museum

A day out of time

Reykjavík’s open air museum, where you can stroll through the past and experience the way we lived.

Fun, fascinating and full of surprises, this living museum takes you on a journey through time.

Reykjavík’s early history is preserved in a series of lovingly restored homes, where you’ll encounter costumed guides, grazing animals and traditional crafts.

Exhibitions, demonstrations and tours reveal how Reykjavík came to life, from a few scattered farms to a vibrant capital city.

Arbaer Open Air Museum is part of Reykjavík City Museum : one museum in five unique places.

Kistuhylur 4, 110 Reykjavík.

The Settlement Exhibition

Step into the Viking Age

An open excavation where Viking ruins meet digital technology.

Just below ground in downtown Reykjavík, this open excavation uncovers the city’s Viking Age history.

Discovered during construction work, then carefully excavated, these remnants of the past are the earliest evidence of human settlement in the city.

Family friendly, including a children’s activity area, this multimedia exhibition uses creative technology to immerse you in the Viking Age.

The Settlement Exhibition is part of Reykjavík City Museum : one museum in five unique places.

Adalstaeti 16, 101 Reykjavík.

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Capturing the moment, then and now

Reflecting the contemporary, while archiving the past – this is Reykjavík’s home of photography.

Reykjavík’s main photography museum offers an ongoing programme of contemporary and historical exhibitions, and an onscreen archive of thousands of images from the past.

New work from Iceland and abroad reflects where photography is now, while extensive archives from 1860 – 2000 give an insight into Iceland’s changing culture and society overmore than a century.

Reykjavík Museum of Photography is part of Reykjavík City Museum : one museum in five unique places.

Tryggvagata 15, 101 Reykjavík.

Reykjavík Maritime Museum

How the ocean formed a nation

A harbour museum exploring Iceland’s dramatic relationship with the sea.

The survival of a nation depended on generations of brave fishermen heading into the unknown. Over the centures, methods of catching and working with fish transformed into a sciencethat helped create a modern nation.

Exhibitions and artefacts bring our ocean history to life, from battling the waves to the Cod Wars, and beyond. Plus the chance to climb aboard the Odinn, a 900-ton coastguard ship, with its own stories to tell!

Reykjavík Maritime Museum is part of Reykjavík City Museum : One museum in five unique places.

Grandagardur 8, 101 Reykjavík.

Gljufrastein – Laxness Museum

Halldor Laxness was one of Iceland’s most respected authors and was prolific in his writing, producing 62 books over 68 years. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955.

Gljusfrasteinn was the home and workplace of Halldor Laxness and his family for more than half a century. In 2004 it was opened to the public as a museum, unchanged from when Laxness lived there.

In the reception building you can watch a multimedia presentation dedicated to Laxness’s life and work. Tickets for admission, books and souvenirs are also sold there. In the beautiful countryside around Gljufrasteinn, visitors can take walks as part of their visit, to see where Laxness spent his childhood and later in life sought his inspiration.

Audio tours of the house are available in Icelandic, English, German, Swedish and Danish and a folder in French. Gljufrasteinn is only about 25 minutes distance from Reykjavík city center and is on the way to Pingvellir National Park.

Frikirkjuvegur 7, 101, Reykjavík.

National Gallery of Iceland

The National Gallery of Iceland established in 1884, is the principal art museum of Iceland. Its art collection consists mainly of works of 19th and 20th century art. In its possession are many of the keystones if Icelandic art history, as well as a growing collection of works from other countries.

The National Gallery’s main rôle is to collect, preserve, research and exhibit Icelandic art and offer education about it. A considerable emphasis is also laid on showing Icelandic art in context with international art. The museum sees it as one of its priorities to educate visitors about exhibitions and single art works, by means of texts, guidance, meetings with artists and a databank which is accessible through computers in the National Gallery’s education center.

Frikirkjuvegur 7, 101 Reykjavík.

National Museum of Iceland

The National Museum of Iceland is the oldest museum in the country and celebrated its 150th birthday in 2013. At the museum you can explore the permanent exhibition. Making of a Nation – Heritage and History in Iceland, which is intended to provided insight into the history of the Icelandic nation from the Settlement to the present day.

The exhibition is conceived as a journey through time: it begins with the ship, in which medieval settlers crossed the ocean to their new home; it ends in a modern airport, the Icelanders’ gateway to the world. The museum caters to all ages and you can find games, play dresses up and explore the museum via interactive touch screens and audio-guides which complement the exhibitions.

Guided tours in English are offered three day a week from May to Mid September.

Sudurgata 41, 101 Reykjavík.

The Culture House

Built as a library in the beginning of the 20th century, the Culture House is one of the most beautiful houses in Reykjavík. It has had had many roles through the years, but today it houses the permanent exhibition Points of Ivew.

Points of View is a unique exhibition as it focuses, not on art or history separately, but rather on exploration of the aesthetic vision of Iceland and the Icelanders through the years. The exhibition is not chronological, but instead mixes modern art and media with historical artefacts, photographs, documents and other objects and the result is a unique snapshot of the cultural history of Iceland.

The exhibition is a collaboration between six Icelandic cultural institutions, the National Museum of Iceland, the National Gallery of Iceland, The National Library of Iceland, the Arni Magnusson Institute of Icelandic Studies, The National Archives and the Museum of Natural History.

Hverfisgata 15, Reykjavík.

Volcano House

Iceland is one of the most interesting places in the world, geologically speaking. The island is constantly changing, and on average there is a volcanic eruption every 4-5 years, occasionally even threatening inhabited areas.

Along with a mineral exhibition, the Volcano House has an hourly Volcano Show, featuring two documentaries on two of Iceland’s biggest eruptions. The first is about the eruption in the Vestmannaeyjar Islands in 1973. The small fishing community was capsized when a crack in the earth opened up in the middle of the night, spewing fire and brimstone. The eruption broke out in an inhabited area and nearly 5,000 locals had to be evacuated from their homes.

The second film documents the infamous eruption in Eyjafjallojökull 2010. This massive eruption caused thousands of flight cancellations, leaving millions of people stranded. The film shows gripping footage of the eruption, allowing you to experience those momentous eruptions from the comfort of the in-house cinema.

The mineral exhibition gives an overview of Iceland’s geological history and volcanic systems. A large collection of semi-precious rocks and minerals, ash, and lava, is also on a display.

Tryggvagata 11, 101 Reykjavík.

Aurora Reykjavík

Take a walk through history and learn how people and cultures around the world saw the Northern Lights via legends and myths connected to this amazing phenomenon. There are interactive displays as well as a specially equipped photo booth where you can learn how to adjust your camera’s settings should you want to try your hand at capturing the auroras yourself.

The high point of your visit to the center will certainly be their theatre where a continuously running HD film plays throughout the day. Projected onto a 7 metre wide screen, you can sit back and enjoy this 13-minute fil,m, which features some of the most magnificent auroral displays seen over Iceland. The film is accompanied by soft music in surround-sound, making this a therapeutic and restful experience. You’ll feel like you have just come back from a blissful holiday.

The knowledgeable and friendly staff are on hand to answer any questions you may have about the lights and about Northern Lights photography.

The gift shop stocks a unique selection of high quality handmade items by young Icelandic designers, photographers and artists.

Grandagardur 2, 101 Reykjavík.

Gerdarsafn

Gerdarsafn is an ambitious modern and contemporary art museum in Kopavogur. It’s dedicated to the memory of Gerdur Helgadottir (1928 – 1975) and opened in 1944, the first museum in Iceland to be dedicated to the life and work of a woman. Gerdur focused on sculptures and was a pioneer in three-dimensional abstracts and glasswork in Iceland. The museum’s collection contains 1400 works by Gerdur as well as collections of the works of Barbara Arnason, Magnus A Arnason, Valdergdur Briem and several other contemporary artists.

The museum’s exhibitions are diverse, with the works of Icelandic as well as international contemporary artists regularly on display along with exhibitions from the museum’s collection. The giftstore features souvenirs specially made for the museum, which are based on the works of Gerdur Helgadottir, as well as books on art and other subjects.

Hamraborg 4, 200 Kopavogur.

Kopavogur Culture Centre

The cultural heart of Kopavogur lies in the Hamraborg area. Not only is it home to the Kopavogur art museum, Gerdarsafn, but several other cultural institutions as well.

Kopavogur Natural History Museum: The Kopavogur Natural History Museum is one of the leading natural science institutions in Iceland. The museum hosts exhibitions, with an emphasis on geology and Icelandic wildlife, including the arctic fox and numerous species of fish and birds. It also has an extraordinary(as described by David Attenborough, when he visited in 2005) exhibition of Japanese style Marimo lake balls?

Salurinn Concert Hall: The Kopavogur Concert hall is the first one in Iceland to be specifically designed to host concerts. The building is one of a kind, with roots in Icelandic nature, partly clad with driftwood, collected at Langanes in the northeast of Iceland, and the hall is equipped with two grand pianos, a Steinway and a Bosendorfer.

The Kopavogur Public Library: In the same building as the Natural History Museum is the Kopavogur Public Library. The library is open to everyone and is a sort of a community centre for the town, where people have a chat over a cup of coffee, read the papers and get the newest books.

The Living Art Museum

The newly renovated Marshall building by the old harbour is the new home of the Living Art Museum. This non-profit, artist-run museum and association was founded in 1978 to showcase experimental and ground breaking contemporary art, at a time when Icelandic art authorities had stagnant views of what onstituted art and art history.

The living Art Museum’s collection consists entirely of donations from artists and individuals and though the past four decades the collection has grown to feature works from the most inspiring Icelandic artists of our time.

Since its foundation, the Living Art Museum has been an important forum in the Icelandic art community for introducing, reflecting, and debating the role of contemporary art. It offers a varied programme that extends performances, film and video screenings, live music, lectures and symposiums, poetry readings, and theatre.

The Marshall Building Grandagardur 20, Reykjavík

Other Museums

Einar Jonsson Museum: Eiriksgata 101 Reykjavík.

Hafnarborg: Centre of Culture and Fine Art vStrandgata 35, 200 Hafnarfjördur.

Hannesarholt Cultural House. Grundarstig 10, 101 Reykjavík.

Museum of Design and Applied Art. Gardartorgi, 1, 210 Gardabaer.

Museum of Hafnarfjördur : Vesturgata 8, 220 Hafnarfjördur.

National Archives : Laugavegur 162, 105 Reykjavík.

Nordic House : Sturlugata 5, 101 Reykjavík.

Numismatic Museum : Einholt 4, 105 Reykjavík.

Saga Museum : Grandagordi 2, 101 Reykjavík.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum (The Penis Museum) : Laugavegur 116, 101 Reykjavík.

Grondalshus : Vesturtgata 5b, 101Reykjavík.