Guided Tour: Traditional Dress and Wandering Poets [Icelandic]
The National Museum of Iceland offers expert-led guided tours every Sunday. On the last Sunday of each month, the tour is conducted in a foreign language.
Traditional Dress and Wandering Poets
A guided tour will explore the art and pleasures enjoyed by Icelanders in centuries past. Particular attention will be given to two new exhibitions at the National Museum of Iceland: one devoted to the artist Sólon Íslandus and the other to one of the finest surviving examples of Icelandic faldbúningur, a traditional women’s costume with an elaborate headdress.
Flow – Sólon Íslandus & Mógil
Flow presents selected works by the folk artist Sölvi Helgason (1820–1895), who was known as Sólon Íslandus. Sölvi’s works have long been admired and are inseparably intertwined with his own story: that of a folk artist who refused to let compulsory service laws or society’s other rules and restrictions dictate how he lived.
Sölvi’s work can be said to flow between periods and artistic forms. Flow is a key concept in his body of work, in which figurative drawings, text and various kinds of scribbling merge into an original visual world. His sensitivity is evident in delicate ornamentation, with floral garlands and other patterns winding across the paper, often accompanied by unexpected additions such as letters, human faces or other symbols. In this way, Sölvi alludes to the surroundings he encountered on his travels.
Norðlandínus, an album by Mógil, was inspired by Sölvi’s images and writings. The album bears clear witness to Sölvi Helgason’s enduring influence on the creative work of others, and Mógil’s music forms part of the exhibition.
A Voyage in History – The Bridal Costume
The bridal costume belonged to women of the Stephensen family, which became one of Iceland’s most powerful and affluent families during this period. The family matriarch, Sigríður Magnúsdóttir, wore part of it when she married Ólafur Stefánsson, later Governor of Iceland, in 1761.
Their elder daughter, Þórunn, received part of the costume as her dowry in 1780, when she married Bishop Hannes Finnsson. It subsequently passed into the possession of Ragnheiður, Þórunn’s younger sister.
The costume was considered so exceptionally fine that whenever foreign visitors arrived, it was brought out and shown to them, although some found the attire rather unusual.
The tour is included with museum admission. Please note that your admission ticket also serves as an annual pass, giving you unlimited access to the museum's exhibitions and events for one year from the date of purchase. Admission to all exhibitions and events is free for children and young people under 18 years of age.
