Mynd: Julius Rothlaender - Aðsend mynd
West into the Blue, all over Reykjavík
Vestur í bláinn (West into the Blue) is the name of an audio-visual art project that is spread across Reykjavík but can be enjoyed from anywhere. A series of events around the project includes a public presentation of the exhibition project and artists’ talk later today.
The theme of Vestur í bláinn is immigration and emigration in Iceland, and aims to explore notions of ‘foreignness’. The project was started by Julius Pollux as an experimental music project. Julius was later joined by artist Claire Paugam and the pair decided to expand the project into an art exhibition “encouraging a humanistic and empathetic look on people’s stories, situations, emotions and backgrounds”.
All over town
Finally, local artists were invited to engage with the music and create ten artworks for the exhibition. These pieces are currently on display at ten different public locations in Reykjavík. They can be found at Andrými, Gerðuberg library, Harpa, Hlemmur, Kaffi Laugalækur, Mjódd, Nýlistasafnið, Reykjavík Art Museum Hafnarhús, Reykjavík City Hall (Ráðhúsið), and at Vesturbæjarlaug. They will remain in place until the end of September. A guided coach tour of all the locations is planned for 24th September.
Before that, the artists will present and discuss their work in an open forum at Reykjavík City Library Grófin, in the city centre, at 17.00 this afternoon. The event is free but pre-registration is necessary online due to COVID restrictions.
More details about Vestur í bláinn are on the project's website, and the music is available on streaming services, including Spotify.
