Iceland plans national gallery overhaul

The society priest, Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, published a new plan paper in May 2023 calling for a growing art field that gets prestige locally and internationally. The policy paper’s activity plan developed a functioning team of independent experts to assess the national gallery and “create a future vision for the growth of a world-class national gallery”.

A number of solutions are recommended, from increasing the current Fríkirkjuveg site to creating a totally new room elsewhere in the city– perhaps near to Reykjavik’s impressive Harpa concert hall, integrated in 2011.

Without suitable space to show, store and study art, the gallery has been unable to save or show a few of the nation’s essential works. As a result, Jóhannsdóttir claims, “the story of Icelandic art background has actually not been informed.”

Jóhannsdóttir states she would like to at least have a “clear plan onward” in the following 2 years, and for a brand-new storage room to be offered within that home window. “I can simply see it in my mind, how attractive it would be to see the different dialogues we can make. There are just some extraordinary works that we ‘d enjoy to have on display regularly.”

Jóhannsdóttir states she would like to at least have a “clear plan onward” in the next two years, and for a new storage area to be readily available within that home window.

The nationwide gallery, home to around 16,000 works, mostly from the 20th and 19th centuries, is currently housed across 3 areas in the capital of Reykjavik. These consist of a primary website at Fríkirkjuveg, opposite the picturesque Tjörnin Lake in the city centre; the recently opened Residence of Collections; and the home and studio of the painter Ásgrímur Jónsson, open by appointment.

“The exhibition rooms in the main structure have considerable constraints”, while the “covert away” entrance of the major museum undersells the website, Mikkel Bogh, the previous supervisor of Copenhagen’s Statens Gallery for Kunst (SMK), wrote in the report. Furthermore, he claimed, “The problems for storage and conservation work are downright alarming from a museum professional’s perspective”. A leakage in among the major storage rooms meant that gallery team just recently had to relocate part of the collection of deal with paper before a storm to avoid damage, according to Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir, the gallery’s director.

The cost of a brand-new site is approximated at 15bn Icelandic krona (around $108m), an amount Alfreðsdóttir assumes is possible. She wishes she can introduce a building competitors for an entirely brand-new website prior to her term finishes in autumn 2025.

“The exhibition areas in the main structure have significant restrictions”, while the “hidden away” entrance of the major museum undersells the site, Mikkel Bogh, the former supervisor of Copenhagen’s Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), composed in the record. A leakage in one of the primary storage space spaces implied that gallery staff recently had to move component of the collection of works on paper prior to a storm to avoid damages, according to Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir, the museum’s supervisor.

Iceland is taking into consideration developing a new room for its National Gallery to improve the account of Icelandic art background and provide ideal conditions for its collections after a record highlighted significant shortages in the gallery’s existing rooms.

The Fríkirkjuveg place lately undertook renovation, however the gallery’s 2 main sites make up just around 2,000 sq. m of “exhibition and media” room. The report found that around 4,500 to 5,800 sq. m is required, and another 6,000 sq. m for storage space and study.