Arnastofnun, concept competition

On 21 April 1971, two of Iceland’s most valuable manuscripts returned home, the Codex Regius (commonly known as the ‘Poetic Edda’) and Flateyjarbók which contain the worldview of the Norsemen. Without these manuscripts, and in particular the Poetic Edda (the only copy of which exists in Iceland), we would understand almost nothing of Norse Mythology or how the world was viewed in those times.

(Tekið af gagarin.is)

Gagarinalong with Hildiberg was invited to create a concept for the Árnastofnun exhibition, where for the first time, the most precious manuscripts of Iceland, previously only available to scholars, would be made available for the public to see.

We worked with a conceptual theme of shadows and darkness, hinting at the mystery in which the stories themselves are shrouded, keeping them at a poetic distance that is metaphorical rather than literal. We used the metaphor of ink bleeding on vellum paper to describe the experience of exploring the sagas through unveiling fleeting glimpses of surprising tales and background details from the manuscripts.