Welcome to the exhibition opening on Thursday 16 April at 6:00 PM.
The exhibition Future Remains by Icelandic artist Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir offers insight into the artist’s ongoing exhibition and research project exploring our relationship and connection to nature in a changing world. Ólafsdóttir is interested in the intersection between natural and cultural heritage and how these influence one another. At Atelier Nord she presents new video works, photographs and textile pieces, together with a collection of natural samples, persistent artefacts and other markers of the Anthropocene.
From Volcanic Island and Seabed to Glacier and Birch Forest
Ólafsdóttir’s artistic practice involves an active engagement with the places she visits. In this exhibition the public can experience works resulting from her research journeys. Examples include documentation of repeated trips to the volcanic island of Surtsey, records of the seabed from her expedition on the research vessel Kronprins Haakon that crossed the Barents Sea from Svalbard, and samples such as ice cores from Iceland’s largest glacier and a submerged birch forest.
Fieldwork and Research Projects
Through collaborations with institutions like the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, the Environment Agency of Iceland, and the National Museum of Iceland, Þorgerður has helped broaden the scope of scientific fieldwork and archival material. She has twice been granted permission to travel to the volcanic island of Surtsey – formed in an eruption between 1963 and 1967 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008. Her stays on Surtsey have had a profound impact on her artistic practice. In 2023 she published the book Iceland Fiction with Relics of Nature, which brings together artworks and essays expanding our ideas about, and connection to, this remote island, as well as the relationship between natural and cultural heritage.
She also takes part in two interdisciplinary research projects: Extremes at the Arctic at the University of Tromsø and Relics of Nature – an Archaeology of Natural Heritage in the High North at the University of Oslo.
About Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir
Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir (born 1985) holds a Master of Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art and a BA from the Iceland University of the Arts. Her work has been shown at MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil), the National Museum of Iceland, Sequences Art Festival (Reykjavík, Iceland), Reykjavík Art Museum, Artierranti (Bologna, Italy), Scandinavia House (New York, USA), Catalyst Arts (Belfast, Northern Ireland), Demon’s Mouth (Oslo, Norway), and Glasgow International, among others. Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir is based in Reykjavík.
The exhibition is supported by Rannis – The Icelandic Centre for Research and Nordic Culture Fund.
Visiting Atelier Nord
Atelier Nord is a venue for contemporary art focused on media art. We present a varied programme of exhibitions, artist talks and workshops, and offer free residencies for professional visual artists in our sound and video editing studios.
Address: Olaf Ryes plass 2, Oslo (entrance from Sofienberggata). Opening hours: Thursday/Friday 15–18, Saturday/Sunday 12–17. Contact: +47 23 06 08 80, office@ateliernord.no.