Winter and Spring 2024


Tuesday, January 14th at 8pm The history of the Leprosy Hospital in Laugar­nes and the establish­ment of the Ord­er of Odd Fell­ows in Ice­land

 Guð­mund­ur Þórhalls­son re­views the establish­ment of the Lep­rosy Hospit­al in Laugar­nes (1898−1943) which the Danish Order of Odd Fellows built and gave to Ice­land, and the found­at­ion of the Ice­land­ic Order of Odd­fell­ows in 1897.
    Historian Erla Dóris Halldórsdóttir gives talk about life and work at the hospital and its role to overcome this dis­ease.
Part of the program Protecting Laugarnes. Free admission.
Press Release in Icelandic
Tuesday, January 21th at 8pm Ingólfur Arnarson and his settlement in Laugarnes
− the history reviewed

 Árni Árna­son discuss­es his find­ings that the settl­er Ing­ólf­ur Arnar­son built his farm in Laugar­nes, not in down­town Reykja­vík as cur­rently claimed.
Part of the program Protecting Laugarnes. Free admission.
Press Release in Icelandic
Tuesday, January 28th at 8pm My Own Laugarnes

 Þor­grím­ur Gests­son talks about his pers­onal re­lation­ship with the Laugar­nes area. He dis­cus­ses why and how he began to study the thous­and-year hist­ory of the Laugar­nes farm, the last cent­ur­ies vil­lage of Laugar­nes which was en­gulf­ed by the city of Reykja­vík. The only thing cur­rently re­main­ing is the farm-hill which might dis­app­ear with the traces of thous­ands of years of human life.
Part of the program Protecting Laugarnes. Free admission.
Press Release in Icelandic
Sunday February 2nd at 99pm

Salon Program

 Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir violin and Carl Philippe Gionet piano.

Program with works by e.g. Fritz Kreisl­er, Ed­ward Elgar Niccolo Pagan­ini and Þór­arinn Jóns­son.
Tuesday February 2nd at 8pm

Concert

 Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir violin and Carl Philippe Gionet piano.

Violin Sonata in B major nr. 32 K 454, Sonata in c minor op. 45 and Fratres by Arvo Pärt
Tuesday February 11th at 8pm
The composers		 Concert

 This British chamber ensemble, Katrin Heymann flute, Rob Campkin vio­lin and Evelina Ndlovu piano, pre­sents the pre­miere of Barry Mills' trio "From Turmoil to Calm", written specifi­cally for them, along­side master­ful works by Bo­huslav Mart­inů and Nino Rota. These 20th-century com­posi­tions are cele­brated for their ac­cessi­bility, orig­inal­ity and their ex­hilar­ating en­ergy. The pro­gram is com­plement­ed by medi­ta­tions on Ice­landic folk melodies by Snorri Sig­fús Birgis­son; cre­at­ing a bridge be­tween the en­semble's British ori­gins and their per­form­ance in Ice­land.
Tuesday February 18th at 8pm
Stefán Pálsson 		Who were They

 The story of a fam­ily that came to Ice­land from Den­mark in 1926 and brought a zoo with them. They settl­ed in Laugar­nes and at­tract­ed some at­tent­ion in Reykja­vík. It turn­ed out that they were gyps­ies, but the know­ledge of the Roma people was very little and the con­cept of gypsy was un­clear.
    Hist­or­ian Stef­án Páls­son tells their story and asks the quest­ions: Why did this fam­ily move to Ice­land and what in­format­ion − if any − can be found about them?
Tuesday February 25th at 8pm
 Knitting Winter

 Ýr Jóhannsdóttir − ÝRÚRARÍ − will present her projects and artworks.
Her project, Sweater Sauce, a collaboration with the Red Cross clothing collection, was nominated for the Iceland Design Award in 2020. That work has been developed further and presented widely around Europe. Along with the Stúdíó Flétta, ÝRÚRARÍ was awarded the 2023 Iceland Design Awards for the project Pítsutund.
Tuesday March 11th at 8pm
 Knitting Winter

 Who is Vík Prjónsdóttir?
This year marks the 20 years anni­versary of the design team refer­red to as Vík Prjóns­dóttir, con­sist­ing of Guð­finna Mjöll Magnús­dótt­ir, Bryn­hildur Páls­dótt­ir, Egill Kalevi Karls­son and Hrafn­kell Birgis­son. The co­operat­ion with Víkur­prjón knit­ting fact­ory will be discus­sed and the team’s im­pact on the Ice­landic knit­wear industry which appeared like a breath of fresh air into the Ice­landic design world.
Tuesday March 25th at 8pm
 Knitting Winter

 Fashion de­signer Magnea Einars­dótt­ir will share her ex­peri­ence of work­ing in Ice­land as a knit­wear de­sign­er. In re­cent years she has at­tract­ed well-deserv­ed at­tent­ion for her original ap­proach to knitt­ing and fabric treat­ment of Ice­landic wool. Her cloth­ing line MAGNEA - made in Reykja­vík was nomin­at­ed for the Ice­land Design Award in 2021.