Opening of the East exhibitions at Hafnarborg on Thursday

Culture belongs in Hafnarfjörður

Yes, all you art lovers, mark Thursday, 28th August in your diaries. That's when two new exhibitions open at Hafnarborg. This time, we are presenting the museum's autumn exhibition for 2025., Total divas, curated by Josa Baka and Petra Hjartardóttir, and You are here: From Uppsala to Hafnarfjörður and from Hafnarfjörður to Uppsala, presented in collaboration with the Uppsala City Art Museum.

Total divas
Hafnarborg's Autumn Exhibition 2025

The exhibition Total divas invites visitors to explore themes related to softness, power and feminine energy in contemporary art. The exhibition revolves around the different manifestations of the feminine, divine and mythological archetypes, and the animism that regards (Mother) Nature as an ever-changing being. These ideas are then examined in relation to their relevance to people, places and things, particularly now that feminine archetypes can be said to be emerging from their hiding places and transforming our understanding of identity and balance.

The exhibition features works created in a variety of media, but its aim is to shed light on how the participants interpret the various archetypes and mythological figures, as well as our relationship with nature. Thus, the exhibition offers Total divas offering interesting perspectives on vulnerability and humanity by opening a gateway for the supernatural to flow into earthly life.

The artists whose works are on display are Berglind Ágústsdóttir and Hrefna Sigurðardóttir, Darsha Hewitt and Svava Skúladóttir, Dýrfinna Benita Basalan and Róska, Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir and Gunnþórunn Sveinsdóttir, Hildur Ása Henrýsdóttir and Kíkó Korriró, Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir and Jóhannes S. Kjarval, Veronica Brovall and Sóley Eiríksdóttir. The curators are Jasa Baka and Petra Hjartardóttir.

You are here
From Uppsala to Hafnarfjörður and from Hafnarfjörður to Uppsala

What is here, what is at home, what is neighbourhood environment or -community? These are all relative concepts that are based on an individual's position or relationship with the outside world. We locate ourselves on a map, create homes and learn to recognise situations, form connections and perceive ourselves as part of a whole. But this perspective – like everything else – can change, whether on a journey or when moving house, for example.

The exhibition features works from the art collection of Uppsala, Hafnarfjörður's twin town, which is located 2085 kilometres away, as stated on a street sign at the Town Hall pointing to the 10 twin towns of Hafnarfjörður. The works bear witness to life in Uppsala, the town's surroundings and history, but much in our own lives and environment may also be reminiscent of the Swedish reality. After all, there is much that unites us or is similar in the Nordic regions: a similar climate and cold nights, flora and fauna, attitudes and values, not to mention the shared cultural heritage of the Nordic countries.

The aim of the exhibition is therefore to highlight the connections between the twin towns and to invite visitors to travel to Uppsala in their imagination. We then see our own reality and the world of its inhabitants from a new perspective, from a relative point that exists neither there nor here, but is instead created within us, in our own mind. For there is nothing that connects us like putting ourselves in the shoes of others – seeing and understanding life through art. Exhibition Committee: Aldís Arnadóttir, Hólmar Hólm, Mikaela Granath and Tove Otterclou.

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Free admission – see you at Hafnarborg