Opening of Graduation Exhibition in Architecture, Design and Art

Last Saturday, a Graduation Exhibition opened in Architecture, Design and Art in Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús.

The exhibition is one of the most popular every year and this time runs until May 17.
At the exhibition you can see the diverse graduation works of 88 students in bachelor's studies. Thousands of people visit this exhibition every year to see the works of future architects, designers and visual artists who are stepping out into the world with their own voice and vision, as the rector of the school so rightly spoke.

Kristín Eysteinsdóttir, rector of LHÍ, and Markús Þór Andrésson, curator of the Reykjavík Art Museum, addressed guests at the opening. Markús welcomed the students to the museum. He spoke specifically about the communication platform that the museum is and encouraged the students to take the opportunity to meet the exhibition visitors and talk to them about their work.

Kristin co-opted in her speech “The exhibition is both an end point and a beginning. You complete a challenging course and step into a life where your creativity, knowledge and courage matter whether it is in work or further study. Hold on to your curiosity, allow yourself to be bold and never stop looking.”

“ In the works here today, details and big ideas meet: memories that become material, symbols that become systems and poetic in space and time.

Your ideas are given different forms, but your ambition is shared You examine the perception and record of reality, in power and visibility, and seek ways to open a conversation about empathy, responsibility and the future.

The show is both an end point and a beginning You complete a challenging course of study and step into a life where your creativity, knowledge and courage matter whether it be in a job or further study. Hold on to your curiosity, allow yourself to be bold and never stop looking.

And to your audience: take the time to enjoy, be moved along and pause. The meaning of a work is created in its conversation with the viewer, in what you see and feel.

Finally: Thank you dear graduate students for sharing your work with us. Thank you to the teachers and instructors for professionalism, to the curator and the school staff for the strong support that sustains everything, and to the families and friends who have stood by you. And special thanks I would give to the Reykjavík Art Museum for the collaboration.“

Earlier in the day, there was a pre-opening of an exhibition where Kristín Eysteinsdóttir (Rector of the Iceland Academy of the Arts), Logi Einarsson (Minister of Culture, Innovation and University), Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir (mayor) and Daði Már Kristófersson (Minister of Finance and Economy) announced that they were signing a memorandum of understanding that Stakkahlíð 1 will be the school's future building, where all departments will merge under one roof.

It is a tradition at the pre-opening that representatives of departments speak up and, among other things, thank the students, staff and curators. Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir addressed the students this year on behalf of the architecture department.
Katrín Ólina, dean of the Department of Design, had a message for the students in her speech
“.... Now you stand here. With works that meet the world. And with your voice.
She's not fully formed She's going to mature. But she's not getting stronger by waiting.
She gets stronger through participation By taking a stand By working in a world that is complex, uncertain and ever-changing.
You've learned that creative work isn't linear. We don't always know where to go.
But we set off. Let's make one decision and then the next. And gradually something will be created.
So keep asking. Listen. Practice. And shape.
Find your way and let it have an impact.”

Finally, Bjarki Bragason, president of the art department, spoke where he greeted his students in five languages and congratulated the student group on the course in their mother tongues, which highlights the diversity of the group that comes from far and wide.

Bjarki mentioned the students' concerns at the exhibition, which touch on questions about the position of the person within the systems she has created for herself, the human age we live in where human actions move more material than the system of the Earth, the relationship between animal species, perception, transience, the relationship between materials, childhood within us, superstitions and ideas about facts. Students were encouraged to continue their journey, find their context and the connections they need to find a channel for artistic, political and social priorities. At the end, Arnari Ásgeirsson, curator of the art part of the graduation exhibition, was thanked for his part in creating the 29 different works that are in the exhibition, teachers of the department, instructors, part-time teachers and visitors, workshop staff and the school as a whole for the important ecosystem that is an art university and reminded of the lifeblood we have in the school's community.

This year's curators were them
Anna Kristín Karlsdóttir and Jan Dobrowolski for architecture.
Arnar Már Jónsson for fashion design
Björn Steinar Blumenstein for product design
Hrefna Sigurðardóttir for graphic design
Arnar Ásgeirsson for art

Project manager: Tinna Pétursdóttir
Photos: Eygló Gísladóttir