I have never told my students but I have learned more from them than they have from me. (Björn Roth, July 5, 2021)

On January 2, 2026, Björn Roth, a visual artist, curator and teacher, passed away. From the beginning, Björn was one of the main collaborators of Skaftfell, the center for visual arts in East Iceland, and played an important role in the development of its activities. He was one of the founders of the center and served on the exhibition committee from 1999. When that committee was dissolved, he took over as honorary artistic director from 2008 to 2010. At the same time, he served as chairman of the Skaftfell Group from 2001 to 2008 and served as an alternate on the Skaftfell board of directors, from 1997 to 2004. In addition, Björn designed the appearance of the bistro on the center’s ground floor.

Björn was one of the first artists to exhibit in the Skaftfell Gallery in 1999 when the gallery was inaugurated after renovations. There he was in good company, along with the artists Bernd Koberling and his father Dieter Roth (1930-1998). More than ten years later, in 2010, Björn opened a solo exhibition in Skaftfell, where another good man who has recently passed away wrote the exhibition text, Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon (1955-2026).

From the beginning, Björn was a key figure when it came to choosing artists to exhibit and setting up exhibitions in Skaftfell. Through his help, many well-known artists came, including the aforementioned Bernd Koberling, along with Olav Christopher Jenssen, Paul Osipow and Fredie Beckmans. In addition, Björn curated several important exhibitions, e.g. Art Around the Town in 2005, which was part of the Á Seyði art festival, and Ferðalag in 2008, which was part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival. He also curated Skaftfell’s 15th anniversary exhibition, Hnallþóra in the Sun, in 2013. There were many prints by Dieter on display, and the exhibition was well-received. It later travelled to Hafnarfjörður and was installed in Hafnarborg in 2014.

In collaboration with Kristján Steingrím Jónsson, Björn took the initiative to develop Skaftfell’s most extensive collaborative project from the beginning, the course Seyðisfjörður Workshop. The workshop was held a total of eighteen times from 2001 to 2018, for BA graduates in the Department of Fine Arts at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. The workshop’s partner was the Dieter Roth Academy, and later, the Technical Museum was added. Every year in January, a group of students from the south would come and stay in Seyðisfjörður for two weeks with the aim of creating a new work of art and opening an exhibition. The emphasis was on introducing the students to Dieter’s working methods and working with the special conditions that the fjord offers.

The students were encouraged to create large-scale works, and much effort was made to ensure that they worked on their works in collaboration with local people. Björn’s sons, Oddur and Einar, also contributed significantly to the studio, participating in the creation and installation of the works. This collaboration resulted in many memorable works of art, including a diamond that reached between floors, an orange sauna, large light poles in Bjólfin, a sauna in a van, garbage in a glass cage, orange light poles, pineapples in a fishbowl, large pods that reached out from the exhibition hall and stretched out through the windows, miniatures of the houses in Seyðisfjörður that the homeowners were allowed to take, food performances and nude performances.

The openings of these exhibitions developed into key events in Seyðisfjörður’s cultural life; they were a harbinger of spring, always very well attended and always a lot of fun. In total, almost 200 students attended the workshop, and many of them have returned to Seyðisfjörður to work on various projects, including in collaboration with Skaftfell. At the time of writing, a group of students from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Seyðisfjörður are taking part in a workshop led by two artists who were students in Björn’s first workshop, which was held 25 years ago.

Björn was exceptionally flexible and supportive towards the students, Skaftfell and Seyðisfjörður. When the first workshop took place, he bought boots for all groups, he financed two projectors to be used in the exhibition hall, he lent his car, tools and everything possible to make the exhibition installation work. He also participated in organizing a fundraising auction for Skaftfell in 2007, was instrumental in having Dieter’s printing presses transferred for preservation to the Technical Museum and financed the renovation of Geirahús. His contribution will be forever appreciated.

Gratitude is precisely the first thing that comes to mind in the Skaftfell hinterland upon Björn’s passing. His generosity and artistic contributions have strengthened the work of the center for nearly 30 years. His spirit and legacy will be with us for a long time to come.

Written on behalf of the Skaftfell Board, the Skaftfell Group, current and former employees
Tinna Guðmunds

I think I know that Björn Roth feels best in close contact with nature, preferably out in a good fishing river with a fly rod. If you want to get to know his soul and art in its best form, you have to keep this in mind, I think. It is this approach and closeness to nature that is so clearly visible in his work. The forms come from there. The works are not a reflection of nature but a kind of opening into it. That is where his sensitivity lies.

Björn has increasingly followed his own path in his art. The soil from which he grows and belongs is of course no secret. That soil is largely East Iceland. Seyðisfjörður and Loðmundarfjörður are a big part of his heart. Björn’s paintings are his heart and closeness to that nature.

Text by Guðmund Odd Magnússon for Björns exhibition in 2010.

https://archive.skaftfell.is/bjorn-roth