Symposium – Visitations: Art, Agency and Belonging

This symposium, hosted by Reykjavík Art Museum, will be a closing event for Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson’s award-winning project, Visitations: Polar Bears Out of Place (2019-22). As special guests of the artists, and contributors to the new Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson monograph, Debatable Lands, artists Mark Dion (US) and Terike Haapoja (US/Finland) will discuss their own work. Along with Bryndís and Mark, they reflect on shared and disparate themes and approaches to art and the environment. Key themes will be what all four artists see as art’s capacity for mischievous disruption and serious catalytic effect in times of crisis – furthermore, art’s unlimited potential in sparking dynamic connections across other disciplines and fields – in science, museums, academia, popular culture and media.

Free entry. Registration HERE

The programme also includes presentations from Visitations curator Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir, Visitations project manager Ólöf Gerður Sigfúsdóttir and Visitations co-investigator Kristinn Schram. The symposium will end with a panel discussion between Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Mark Dion and Terike Haapoja, chaired by the Museum’s chief curator, Markús Þór Andrésson. Hulda Stefánsdóttir, Dean of Academic Development, will open the Symposium on behalf of Iceland University of the Arts, Visitation’s host institution.

Programme

13.00
Markús Þór Andrésson: Symposium opening and housekeeping

13.05
Hulda Stefánsdóttir: Opening remarks

13.10
Ólöf Gerður Sigfúsdóttir: Visiting Knowledge

13.20
Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson: Visitations: How Stories Are Made

14.00
Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir: TBA

14.20
Kristinn Schram: Bearfolk Out of Place: Narratives of Human-Polar Bear Encounters From a Folkloristic Perspective.

14.40-15.00
BREAK

15.00
Mark Dion: Animal Endeavours: Thirty Years of Working With and About Non-Human Animals.

15.40
Terike Haapoja: Vulnerability, Animality, Community.

16.20-17.00
Panel discussion: Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson, Terike Haapoja and Mark Dion. Chaired by Markús Þór Andrésson.

The symposium is held in relation to the exhibition Down Иorth, which is on display at the same time at Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús, where the works of Bryndís and Mark can be seen in context with other artists from the North.