Two Icelandic Exhibitions: Textile Art and Vernacular Architecture

Two exhibitions in Iceland explore intergenerational textile art and vernacular turf houses. "Mom's Ball" at three venues—Hotel Holt, the old Reykjavík library, and a farm in Kjos—features works by Egill Sæbjörnsson, his mother Ágústa Oddsdóttir, and grandmother Elín Jónsdóttir. Elín created wearable textile works from waste materials; Ágústa makes sculptural spheres; Egill adds geological and folkloric elements. Curated by Karen Wright, the show highlights the women's untrained folk art alongside Egill's multimedia installations, including troll characters Ugh and Bõögâr from his Venice Biennale pavilion. The exhibition will tour nine countries starting next year. Hotel Holt, owned by collectors Þorvaldur Guðmundsson and Ingibjörg Guðmundsdóttir, discreetly displays over 460 works from their 1,500-piece collection. The old library site will soon become a private home. Next year, Skuli Mogensen's private collection will open in renovated sheep stables. "Earth Homing: Reinventing Turf Houses" features site-specific works by twenty artists in historic turf houses, which became UNESCO heritage in 2011. The exhibition includes a soundscape performance and Kolbeinn Hugi's video installation analyzing Iceland's economic crises and climate change.