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MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL IN NÝLÓ
26.06.10-27.06.10
Midsummer Festival – a brand new festival platform for Icelandic Art – will pop its cherry in Reykjavik’s centre from the 24th – 27th of June. The festival will bring together various young and promising artists from miscellaneous parts of the art spectrum in Reykjavik’s median so the result should be awesome: Colorful and energetic shenanigans, artistic triumphs and glimpses of the art scenario’s best can be expected on every corner. The festival is pitched at increasing youth participation in the art scene, providing a platform for young artists and in passing illuminating the summer in Reykjavik with wonderful performances.
Midsummer Festival will host a program in Nýló on June 26, Saterday from 18-20, and June 27, Sunday from13:30-17:30.
PROGRAM - MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL
Saterday - June 26
18:00-18:30 Þráðarhaft
19:00-19:30 Listamessa
Sunday - June 27
13:30-14:30 Kyrja
15:00-15.45 Sálir bera engin nöfn
16:00-17:00 Weird Girls project
See detailed description of the events here below.
ÞRÁÐARHAFT - Saterday June 26 - 18:00
Ragnheiður S. Bjarnarson is the creator of the performance Þráðarhaft. She graduated from the Department of Theater and Dance from the Iceland Academy of Arts in 2009. She has been associated with dancing for many years and is a member of the Icelandic dance group called Íslenska Heyfiþróunarsamsteypan. In 2009 the group was nominated for the Gríma, the Icelandic performing art awards.
Ragnheiður started her solo carrier by premiering the performance Kyrrja in May this year. In the end of august she will premier yet another performance in association with an annual art festival in Mosfellsbær which is a town situated in the out skirts of Reykjavík.
The performance group includes; Ragnheiður, Ásrún, Rósa, Þyrí og Berglind.
Þráðarhaft
You don’t know what will happen.
They are everywhere sneaking around.
Lets keep on following the line.
Maybe we will see colors, creatures and pigeons.
Is this really one large incantation?
LISTMESSA - Saterday June 26 - 19:00
The performance ArtMass is Katrín I. Jóns and Hjördísardóttir Hirts criticism on the position of the Icelandic church in modern society. The ArtMass is executed like a regular Christian mass, the artist will sing a song to honor art and deliver a sermon. Kartín encourages everyone to show art your gratitude and attend the one in a lifetime ArtMass.
“There is always peace within Art. Lets always try to see the world with the eyes of Art. Art embraces man like he is not as he wants to be or should be. That’s why man can engage Art like it appears. It is Art that defines who we are. Art has never betrayed our trust. It has maybe not always followed conventional paths but it has never stabbed us in the back. Even so, we have doubted Art. Art needs our belief.”
KYRRJA - Sunday June 27 - 14:00
The group performing includes; Ragnheiður, Stefán, Vilborg, Obba and Kara.
Do we perceive colors in nightmares?
Bright as snow
Red as a rose
Black as flint
Come and partake in an adventure, if you look closely you could see angles.
The meaning behind the performance is to investigate the difference between the good and the bad. Look into the meaning of the words heaven and hell. Is it necessary to have two worlds? One who constitutes of the good and another on who constitutes of the evil? Is a binary world essential for comprehending the balance between them? Are the bad people in society as bad as we portray them? Are bad people trying to get us to look into our inner self’s? What is underneath our righteous exterior? What happens if the princess dies in the end?
SÁLIR BERA ENGIN NÖFN - Sunday June 27 - 15:00
The musical film Souls have no names was Helgi Rafn Ingvarsson’s graduation project from the department of music in The Icelandic Academy of the Arts. It was premiered in 2009 at Salurinn in Kópavogur and got good reviews.
The main idea behind Souls have no names is to reverse the ordinary sequence within film-making. Helgi composed the music before the script was made and footage was shot, thus making the music a main focus point to which the contributors adapted to. The film’s music is versatile and reveals various genres, for example choir singing, orchestra, electro acoustic and jazzy blues.
THE WEIRD GIRLS PROJECT - Sunday June 27 - 16:00
The Weird Girls Project is an ongoing art piece created and headed by concept artist Kitty Von-Sometime. It evolves ‘Episode’ by ‘Episode’ and the participants mix between those involved from the beginning and new members increasing with every event. Each Episode is planned by Kitty for approximately three months with the participants knowing as little as is possible about the event apart from the date, this includes the concept, location and costumes.
As standard there will be a photo shoot and they are aware they will be filmed. The main element of the project is ‘reaction to the unknown’. Media is produced from each Episode but the project also focuses on the event itself and how the women react, improvise and morph within costume coming together as a group. The women are varying in ages, backgrounds and experience, and do not necessarily know each other before the day. The Project involves ordinary women rather than professional actresses or models and part of the inspiration was to encourage a gain in self-confidence within young women, especially focusing around body issues.
So far over 3 years the project has birthed 10 Episodes and 1 ‘special’. It started in a very naive style with the media showing little to no experience and it has matured throughout the life of the project. Kitty creates the concept for each event and in addition has directed, designed and edited on varying Episodes but always draws in the talents of different photographers, costume makers and filmmakers to bring the concept to life.
The exhibition for Jónsvaka / Midsummer Festival is a retrospective screening of all the video media accompanied by selected photographic images.
www.theweirdgirlsproject.com
MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL COMPLETE PROGRAM PDF
For further info see: www.jonsvaka.is |