Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Since 2023, October 17th has been dedicated to intangible cultural heritage which refers to the living traditions, customs, practices, knowledge and skills of societies that are passed on from one generation to the next. In Iceland, emphasis on intangible cultural heritage has increased in recent decades, including in connection with the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage. In celebration of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Day, the National Museum of Iceland is focusing on music and poetry in its October program. The National Museum, in collaboration with the chamber group ReykjavíkBarokk, will present the early music festival Kona at the museum, which consists of three different concerts that focus on female pioneers in baroque music. The National Museum of Iceland, in collaboration with The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, will also host a symposium on the folk poet Bólu-Hjálmar. The symposium will discuss, among other things, the poet's poetry and his collection of folk lore, and the Iðunn poets' association will recite poems that have been preserved among his descendants.

Further information about October's events related to intangible cultural heritage can be found here:

7th October- The Day Iceland Stood still - Film screening
11th October - Kona Music Festival: Halldóra's letter and Francesca's opera - Year 1625
12th October - Kona Music Festival: To you Maria
19th October - Kona Music Festival: The pioneers of the string quartet
21st October - The Working Woman - Film screening
25th October - Bólu-Hjálmar and his life's work

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