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Skaftfell Art Center, in Seyðisfjörður, serves as the regional visual arts center for East Iceland. It is one of the three cultural centers in the region that operate according to an agreement on cultural issues between the state and municipalities in East Iceland.The other centers are Tónlistarmiðstöð Austurlands in Eskifjörður and Sláturhúsið Menningarmiðstöð in Egilsstaðir.
Skaftfell is an independent, non-profit art organization. It was founded in 1998 in honor of the Swiss-German artist Dieter Roth (1930-1998), who frequently lived and worked in Seyðisfjörður in the last decade of his life and had a lasting influence on the cultural life of the town. The organization takes its name from the original name of the timber building, constructed in 1907, that now houses the art center, including an exhibition space, an art library, a meeting room, guest bedrooms, the Skaftfell office, and the Skaftfell Bistro.
Skaftfell fosters and presents contemporary art on an international level through its artist residency program, exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and collaborations with other arts organizations.
Skaftfell was founded in the year 1998 by a group of art enthusiasts in the town of Seyðisfjörður, the Skaftfell group. The center is dedicated to nurturing and exhibiting visual art, running a exhibition-, education- and residency program. Skaftfell is a meeting point for artists and locals and serves as a center for visual art in all East Iceland.
Exhibitions in the developing years included: Boekie Woekie in 1996, Exhibition for everything – in honour and memory of Dieter Roth in 1998, Bernd Koberling, Björn Roth & Dieter Roth in 1999.
The center is situated in a grand 420 sq. timber house, built in 1907. In addition to the main exhibition space with running exhibitions the whole year through, Skaftfell houses a 150 sq. gallery and a Bistro with a good library of book-art, art-books and related material. In addition Skaftfell runs the residency program in two other houses.
In the past decade Skaftfell has hosted a large number of exhibitions by international, national and local artists. The main emphasis being on contemporary art. Skaftfell has an important role in the area as a center of information and education on art and art related subjects. Every year Skaftfell organizes and/or hosts various seminars with art students in collaboration with the Icelandic Art Academy and other schools and institutions on all school levels.
Skaftfell is founded in memory of the artist Dieter Roth (1930-1998) who lived and worked in Seyðisfjörður for periods of time during the last decade of his life. In Skaftfell you can find many of his book works and prints on display.
In a newspaper interview with Garðar and his daughter Gréta published in 2000, they expressed their ambition to host international exhibitions, to develop a connection with the European art scene, to run a residency for artists and scholars and organize workshops for children and teenagers.
Skaftfell Group
The Skaftfell Group is an association founded in 1997 with the purpose of advancing the arts in Seyðisfjörður and the eastern region of Iceland. The original members founded Skaftfell Art Center as a non-profit organisation in 1998. The membership has since expanded to include many other devoted supporters of Skaftfell.
The Skaftfell Group is officially charged with group appointing two directors and two alternates members to the board of Skaftfell, as well as two alternates. The role of the Skaftfell Group board appointees is to ensure that Skaftfell develops and prospers within the framework of its founding principles original idea and in parallel with trends in the international art world.
The Skaftfell Group welcomes new members! The group’s activities include a general meeting held every three years, to coincide with the time to renew the board of Skaftfell, as well as other meetings held throughout the year, with the main purpose of recruiting new members. The board of the group works with the Skaftfell director to further strengthen the group’s activities.
Membership in the Skaftfell Group includes being on a priority mailing list to receive Skaftfell’s newsletters, as well as invitations to exhibition openings, artist talks, and other events. It also includes a 15% discount on books and merchandise.
Membership is charged annually, with a suggested fee of 2.000 ISK, which is optional. Membership fees help support Skaftfell’s ongoing activities.
To become a member, please contact the art center at skaftfell@skaftfell.is. To pay membership fees.
The Dieter Roth Academy consists of friends and co-workers of the late Swiss artist Dieter Roth (1930-1998). The Academy has its address at Skaftfell in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. The Academy is not a formal institute. Instead, prospective students can get into contact with any of its professors and thereby be accepted as students of the Academy.
Professors of the Dieter Roth Academy
Eggert Einarsson – Reykjavík
Kristján Guðmundsson – Reykjavík
Sigurður Guðmundsson – China
Gunnar Helgason – Reykjavík
Dorothy Iannone – Berlin
Bernd Koberling – Berlin
Pétur Kristjánsson – Seyðisfjörður
Rainer und Agnes Pretzell – Abaliget
Björn Roth – Basel
Andrea Tippel – Berlin
Rúna Thorkelsdóttir – Amsterdam
Henriëtte van Egten – Amsterdam
Jan Voss – Amsterdam
Tom Wasmuth – New Mexico
Dieter Roth (1930-1998)
Dieter Roth was born 1930 in Hanover, to German-Swiss parents. He went to school in Zürich from 1943 onwards. 1947-1951 he learned graphics and lithography at the Berner Kunstgewerbeschule. During this period he made his first contacts with other artists like Daniel Spoerri, Marcel Wyss and Franz Eggenschwiler.
Dieter was a co-founder and co-editor of the journal “Spirale” (1953-) which specializes in literature, theoretical texts and Druckgraphik. He worked as a designer and advertisement graphic designer (Werbegestalter) in Basel, Bern, Copenhagen and New York. In 1957, Dieter Roth moved to Iceland.
His work in the 1950s is characterized as “constructive”. An exhibition of Jean Tinguely in Basel (1960) deeply impressed Roth and led to a change in his approach. Representative for this period of change are the two works “14 Zeitungs-Illustrationen” (1963/64) and the first “Literaturwurst” (1961). During this time Roth created a large number of book objects in which newspapers are integrated as material.
For the work following thereafter, found materials are essential. In 1974 Roth created a “Literaturwurst” out of the 20 volumes that make up the oeuvre of G.W.F. Hegel. He increasingly turned to organic materials, such as spices, fruit, chocolate and sausages, which he enclosed in Plexiglas or plastic foil and left them to rot.
The book medium is inseparably connected with Dieter Roth. His first “Kinderbuch” appeared in 1957. In 1971, he edited his collected works together with the Edition Hansjörg Mayer. Roth was the co-founder of several publishing companies, such as Dieter Roth’s Verlag, Taucher Verlag, Wasserpresse, Regenverlag. In the late 1970s/early 1980s, he produced copied diaries, using notebooks from the 1960s.
In the 1980s, Roth took on a more documentary approach. At the same time, his works expanded into space. His installations were arbitrary collections of objects; often they stood in his atelier for years and were constantly changed. During the last decade of his life Dieter Roth spent long periods living and working in Seyðisfjörður. Dieter Roth died from heart failure on June 5th, 1998, in Basel.
Staff
Celia Harrison, Director
director@skaftfell.is / skaftfell@skaftfell.is
With a wealth of experience and a passion for the arts, Celia Harrison is an accomplished artistic director, producer, and curator who made Seyðisfjörður her home in 2015. Her experience includes key roles in directing arts institutions in both New Zealand and Iceland, with recent contributions including co-directing the LungA School and co-founding the Herðubreið Community and Culture Center, along with the List í ljósi light festival in Seyðisfjörður.
Celia holds a PhD in Art and Design, focusing her research on community development through artistic practices amidst the challenges of climate change. Reflecting on Skaftfell Art Center, she remarks, “Skaftfell is truly special, holding a significant place in the history of Seyðisfjörður and East Iceland. The opportunity to continue its artistic legacy is a true honour and I look forward to working collaboratively with everyone involved.”
Celia took up position as director of Skaftfell in January 2024.
Kamilla Gylfadóttir, Project Manager and Residency and Education
residency@skaftfelll.is / fraedsla@skaftfell.is
Kamilla Gylfadóttir joined Skaftfell in July 2022 as project manager of Skaftfell’s education program and community outreach, and has managed the residency program since August 2023. She graduated with a B.A. degree in Italian and Tourism Studies in 2014, studied photography in Aarhus and filmmaking in Sarajevo and has worked with filmmaking and art since. In 2020, she completed her M.A. studies in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image at the University of Amsterdam. In 2021 she taught Skaftfell’s art education project for the east of Iceland and she is part of planning and teaching Skjaldbakan, a documentary filmmaking course that took place during BRAS 2022. She co founded the Icelandic home movie collective in 2020 which has uncovered Icelandic home movies and hosted community events around the country.
Previous directors
2006-2011 — Þórunn Eymundardóttir
2011-2018 — Tinna Guðmundsdóttir
2018-2020 — Gavin Morrison
2020-2022 — Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir & Julia Martin
2022-2024 — Pari Stave
Previous residency managers
2012-2014 — Litten Nystrøm
2015-2022 — Julia Martin
Previous education managers
2015 – 2022 Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir
Interns & Seasonal Staff
2022 — Aino Peltola and Netta Alanko (Pekka Halonen Academi, FI); Ra Tack
2021 — Magdalena Noga, Ísold Gná Ingvadóttir
2020 — Unnur Birna J. Backman
2019 — Mary Buckland, Lilaï Licata
2018 — Jenny Niinimaa and Ninni Olllikainen (Pekka Halonen Academi, FI), Carlotta von Haebler
2016 — Eva Jaskova
2015 — Lisa Paland, Hochschule Merseburg
2014 — Becky Forsythe, Georgian College
2013 — Jasmin Meinold, HBK Braunschweig
Current board — since 2020
- Nína Magnúsdóttir, formaður. Varamaður Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir
- Oddný Björk Daníelsdóttir, ritari. Varamaður Hildur Þórisdóttir
- Sesselja Hlín Jónasardóttir. Varamaður Garðar Bachmann Þórðarson
- Anna Eyjólfsdóttir, formaður SÍM. Varamaður Erling Jóhannesson, forseti BÍL
- Tumi Magnússon. Varamaður Markús Þór Andrésson
Previous boards
2017-2020
- Auður Jörundsdóttir, chairman. Alternate Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir
- Svava Lárusdóttir. Alternate Vilhjálmur Jónsson
- Jökull Snær Þórðarson. Alternate Júlíana Björk Garðarsdóttir
- Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir, formaður SÍM. Alternate Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, forseti BÍL
- Fríða Björk Ingvarsdóttir. Alternate Markús Þór Andrésson
2014-2017
- Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir, chairman. Alternate Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir
- Svava Lárusdóttir, ritari. Alternate Vilhjálmur Jónsson
- Gréta Garðarsdóttir. Alternate Jökull Snær Þórðarson
- Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir, formaður SÍM. Alternate Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, forseti BÍL
- Fríða Björk Ingvarsdóttir. Alternate Markús Þór Andrésson
2011-2014
- Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir, chairman. Alternate: Ólafur Örn Pétursson
- Svava Lárusdóttir, varaformaður og gjaldkeri. Alternate: Vilhjálmur Jónsson
- Helgi Örn Pétursson, ritari. Alternate: Garðar Backman
- Hrafnhildur Sigurðardóttir. Alternate: Ásta Ólafsdóttir
- Daníel Karl Björnsson. Alternate: Aðalheiður Borgþórsdóttir
2008-2011
- Daníel Björnsson, chairman. Alternate: Eggert Einarsson
- Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir, varaformaður. Alternate: Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir
- María Gaskell. Alternate: Jón Óskar
- Helgi Örn Pétursson. Alternate: Goddur
- Elva Hlín Pétursdóttir. Alternate: Klas Poulsen
Annual financial reports
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2020
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2017
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2016
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2015
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2014
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2013
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2012
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2011
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2010
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2009
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2008
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2007
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2006
- Ársskýrsla Skaftfells 2002
Organisational charter — Icelandic
- The Print Workshop
- Bistró
- Tvísöngur
- Geirahús (the House of Geiri)
Visit
Gallery | Every day from noon to 5pm | |
Office | Monday – Friday from 9am to 3pm | |
Bistró | Tue—Fri 3pm to 11pm Reservation — +354 472 1633 | |
Ásgeir’s House | By appointment only. Please contact skaftfell@skaftfell.is . | |
Tvísöngur | Always open. Accessible in good weather conditions. |