The Factory

The Factory The Factory is an annual art exhibition in the old herring factory in Djúpavík, Iceland
Exhibition opening 23 May, 5-10 pm, 2026
Open 23 May-11 September

The Factory is an annual art exhibition in Djúpavík’s abandoned herring factory, Westfjords of Iceland. With the vanished past and contemporary art, multiple expressions merge, unfolding a space of past-present spheres. All works of art contain the artist's personal impression of Iceland, as well as a direct interaction with the environment and a changing sub-theme. The goal is to empower the cult

ural field across local, global, and sustainable settings, highlight sensory scenes, and welcome a broad audience. Founded in 2017, The Factory is an artist-run initiative. The exhibition runs for three months each summer. It is open daily, and admission is free. The exhibition is hosted and owned by Hótel Djúpavík and curated by Emilie Dalum. The Factory is generously supported by: Hótel Djúpavik, The Icelandic Visual Arts Fund, The Westfjords Development Fund, Orkubú Vestfjarða, Sparisjóður Strandamanna, Byggðastofnun, and Náttúruverndarsjóður Pálma Jónssonar. In collaboration with Hótel Djúpavík, the Iceland University of the Arts, and Ljósmyndaskólinn. From 2019 to 2023, The Tub Art Space in the village of Þingeyri operated as a sub-venue under The Factory. The gallery is permanently closed. Accessibility: The exhibition is not accessible to wheelchairs. People with visual impairment are recommended to visit the exhibition with someone who can assist them. No audio or text description of the artworks. Restrooms are located at Hotel Djupavik within 100 metres walking distance. Road 643 to Djúpavík is a gravel and uneven road.

(English below)🔸 Síðasta haust var The Factory úthlutað styrk frá Uppbyggingarsjóði Vestfjarða uppá 1.2500.000 kr og Myn...
03/05/2026

(English below)
🔸 Síðasta haust var The Factory úthlutað styrk frá Uppbyggingarsjóði Vestfjarða uppá 1.2500.000 kr og Myndlistarsjóði uppá 1.000.000 kr.

🫶 Við þökkum kærlega báðum stofnunum fyrir að styðja við The Factory, listasýningu á einu afskekktasta horni Íslands. List er FYRIR ALLA og getur gerst HVAR SEM ER, jafnvel á stöðum þar sem síst er búist við því.

The Factory leggur sitt af mörkum til að halda sögu Djúpavíkur á lífi og stefnir að því að styðja við nærsamfélagið með því að færa gleði og merkingu á stað þar sem list, náttúra, menning og friður sameinast.

Áfram Djúpavík, og frá hjartans rótum: TAKK Myndlistarsjóður
og Uppbyggingarsjóður Vestfjarða.

The Factory 2026 opnar 23. maí og er opin allt sumarið til 11. september.

💫

//

🔸 Last autumn, The Factory received funding from the Westfjords Development Fund and the Icelandic Visual Arts Fund, receiving 1,250,000 and 1,00,000 ISK, respectively.

🫶 Thank you to both institutions for supporting The Factory, an art exhibition in one of Iceland's most remote corners. Art is for EVERYONE and can happen ANYWHERE, even in places where you least expect it.

The Factory contributes to keeping Djúpavík's history alive, aiming to support the local area by bringing joy and meaning to a place of art, nature, culture, and peace.

Go Djúpavík, and from the bottom of our hearts: TAKK the Iceland Visual Arts Fund and the Westfjords Development Fund.

The Factory opens on 23 May and is open throughout the summer until 11 September.

💫

Mynd/Image: Djúpavík

🔶 Kynning á listamönnum // Artist announcement The Factory 2026💫 Thrilled and honoured to announce the artist lineup 202...
09/04/2026

🔶 Kynning á listamönnum // Artist announcement
The Factory 2026

💫 Thrilled and honoured to announce the artist lineup 2026 💫

Abigail Portner
April Dobbins
Darja Shatalova
Gabriel Dawe
Hildur Henrýsdóttir
Olivia Lloyd-Sherlock Arribas
Patty Spyrakos
Shana de Villiers
Sonja Strange
Sóley Ragnarsdóttir
Viðar Logi

shatalova

art.things






A core of the exhibition’s ethos is to gather both national and international artists, emerging and established. Furthermore, one student from the Iceland University of the Arts is always included, as well as a writer who composes a piece about the factory and Djúpavík.

The Factory opens 23 May at 9pm in the old herring factory in Djúpavík.
Hosted by Hótel Djúpavík

Artworks on image, from top to bottom (left➡right)
Hildur Henrýsdóttir, Patty Spyrakos, Darja Shatalova, Viðar Logi, Sonja Strange, Gabriel Dawe, Sóley Ragnarsdóttir, Shana de Villiers, Abigail Portner, Olivia Lloyd-Sherlock Arribas.

-specificity

💫 It is with great pleasure to share that The Factory is part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival 2026 💫From the festival’s ...
27/03/2026

💫 It is with great pleasure to share that The Factory is part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival 2026 💫

From the festival’s website: The theme of Reykjavík Arts Festival 2026 is connections. How do we connect as a society with the world? How do we connect with each other within our communities and environment? We want to connect artists and audiences across different art forms, regions, and cultures. Connections have never been more important.

Likewise, will The Factory 2026 explore the theme of connectedness. In this context, site-responsive art will be presented, approaching Djúpavík's herring factory as a co-creator. What emerges when seizing a location not merely as a shell around the art, but as a creator equal to the artist?

The Factory opens on Saturday, 23 May, and is open throughout the summer until 11 September.

Reykjavík Arts Festival takes place between 30 May - 14 June.

TAKK Listahátið í Reykjavíkarts.festival

💚 Northern lights over Djúpavík last week 💚The exhibition theme 2026 was aurora borealis. The artists shed light on the ...
20/10/2025

💚 Northern lights over Djúpavík last week 💚

The exhibition theme 2026 was aurora borealis. The artists shed light on the spectacular phenomenon, inviting us into their own world's of the dancing light up in the sky. Now, the winter is slowly sneaking in on us here in Iceland, and that means that it's season of the northern lights.

From scientist and communicator Sævar Helgi Bragason's text from the exhibition:

'Luckily, Djúpavík is the perfect venue to experience art by both nature and people. Its remoteness only adds to the pleasure of looking around. In the winter, even the faintest auroral arc is readily visible to the unaided eye on a good night. The colours reveal themselves: green, violet, pink, and red. No wonder humans have been captivated by them over the ages. Whether you’re looking at art or auroras, just remember to be patient. Sometimes you have to wait for the heavens to light up.'


took the picture of the auroras and the abandoned ship Suðurland ✨️

The Factory 2025 Himnadansarar // Sky Dancers is closed 🔸️💫 Takk kærlega // Thanks & Gratitude 💫. to everyone who explor...
22/09/2025

The Factory 2025 Himnadansarar // Sky Dancers is closed 🔸️

💫 Takk kærlega // Thanks & Gratitude 💫
. to everyone who explored, touched, felt, or seized the exhibition - in real life or through the digital cosmos. A special TAKK to the amazing artists 🧡

Thanks to all of you who helped turn the exhibition into reality:

🔸️Hótel Djúpavík


🔸️Artists
Anna Ólöf Jansdóttir (IS), Björt Sigfinnsdóttir (IS), Edda Karólína Ævarsdóttir (IS), Kathie Halfin (UKR/IL/US), Kathryn Cellerini Moore (US), Lyse Fournier (FR), Signe Emdal and Kristian Emdal (DK), Sævar Helgi Bragason (IS), Tinna Ottessen (IS)












🔸️Assistants
Björgvin Agnarsson, Olivia Lloyd-Sherlock Arribas and Noam Óli Stefánsson
art.things


🔸️Collaborators and supporters
Hótel Djúpavík, the Iceland University of the Arts , Ljósmyndaskólinn, the Westfjords Development Fund, Gabriel Dunsmith, and Þórunn Þorsteinsdóttir.


is

🔸️Photographers
Ósk Ebenesardóttir and Rannveig Björk Gylfadóttir

🔸️The old herring factory, visitors, and the aurora borealis 💫

SEE YOU IN 2026 ✨️

Image 1:
Images 2-8:
Images 9-12:

🔸️The exhibition Himnadansarar // Sky Dancers in the old herring factory in Djúpavík stays open a little longer until 20...
12/09/2025

🔸️The exhibition Himnadansarar // Sky Dancers in the old herring factory in Djúpavík stays open a little longer until 20 September.

So if you happen to be traveling in the area, make sure to pass by Djúpavík - a place where cultural history, raw nature, and art weave in and out of each other 🔸️

This year's exhibition illuminates the factory with artworks inspired by the Aurora Borealis. From the exhibition text:

"Aurora” comes from the Roman goddess of dawn and “boreas” is the Greek word for north wind. The heavenly colour storms have spellbound humans for countless years, drawing body, mind, and soul into a haze of darkness and light — and invoking spirituality, healing, joy, chaos, and fear. 

Our ancestors turned to myths and legends to explain the phenomenon. The Inuit tribes of Greenland and Canada suggest that the light guided the spirits of the dead to the afterlife or that it was the spirits playing football with a walrus skull. In Norse mythology, the light was the glance of the armor of the Valkyries. For the Sámi, the auroras brought danger; they were seen as the souls of the dead, and if you caught their attention, they would take you up into the sky. Estonians believed the lights to be sleighs, taking guests to a heavenly wedding celebration, while in Icelandic folklore, they are said to ease pain during childbirth. Rarely visible further south in Europe, the lights were considered an evil omen foretelling death and war during the French Revolution. 

Today, the natural spectacle is a popular tourist activity. Just as people travel around the world at high speed to see the lights, they’ve become a pleasure and commodity on social media. Thus, the narrative of the northern lights is shapeshifting, crafted by time and humans, offering a myriad of truths.

However, the absolute pull of wonder remains, connecting humans with something more-than-human. The artists of Sky Dancers tell their own personal stories about and interpretations of the mystifying phenomenon."




Image:

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks 🔸(English below)'Aura’s Veil - soft footsteps in the fog',Björt Sigfinnsdóttir (IS...
09/09/2025

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks 🔸
(English below)

'Aura’s Veil - soft footsteps in the fog',
Björt Sigfinnsdóttir (IS) .added.sugar

Þessi töfrandi marg-skynjunar innsetning er innblásin af norðurljósunum og huldufólki. Verkið er búið til úr fundnum náttúrulegum efnum með það að leiðarljósi að gefa aftur til náttúrunnar það sem hefur verið tekið, og tekur á sig mynd draumfangara með hljóðum og ljós. Gestum er boðið að ímynda sér upplifun galdraveru af heiminum — og munið að tilvistin er göldrum líkust út af fyrir sig.

//

'Aura’s Veil - soft footsteps in the fog',
Björt Sigfinnsdóttir (IS) .added.sugar

This magical, multisensory installation is inspired by the aurora borealis and Icelandic hidden beings. Built from found natural materials in a ritual of giving back to nature, it takes the form of a dreamcatcher-like sculpture with sound and light. Visitors are invited to imagine what it feels like to be a magical being—and remember that, simply by existing, we already are.

BIO
Björt Sigfinnsdóttir (b. 1984) is an Icelandic singer, composer, and multimedia artist based in Seyðisfjörður. Rooted in music—composing, singing, performing—her creative journey has taken her across Europe, through festivals, collaborations, and onto the silver screen, both with her voice and presence. Her debut album Poems of the Past was released in 2016 under the name FURA. A year later, she appeared singing in the Warner Bros. film Justice League, partly shot in Djúpavík. In recent years, Björt has expanded into visual arts, crafting multisensory experiences that blur the line between sound, vision, emotion, and magic.

Images 1-2:
Image 3:

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸 (English below)'I Mist You' og ‘Mist_ violet, chrome green, mineral blue’, Lyse F...
08/09/2025

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸 (English below)

'I Mist You' og ‘Mist_ violet, chrome green, mineral blue’, Lyse Fournier (FR)

Titill verksins — I Mist You — er leikur að orðum, samsettur úr ensku frösunum “I miss you“ og “I meet you“. Verkið er alltumlykjandi innsetning sem notast við rökkvaðar pastellitaðar blæjur sem kalla fram norðurljósin. Verkið er bæði umhverfi og upplifun, það setur áhorfandann inn í íslenskt náttúrufyrirbæri: birtan og skuggarnir í hinum endalausu ljósaskiptum íslensks sumars. Þú tapar áttum á ferðalagi í tíma og skynjun en græðir þó á sama tíma eitthvað ólýsanlegt. I Mist You hermir eftir því hvernig minnið skerðir sjón okkar, og breytir þannig náttúru í sögu.

Öldumynstur tjaldanna býður okkur að ferðast í gegnum rýmið. Litir og litbrigði myndarinnar breytast eftir því hvar við stöndum: erum við úti eða inni?

//

'I Mist You' and ‘Mist_ violet, chrome green, mineral blue’, Lyse Fournier (FR)

I Mist You—whose title is a pun on the phrases “I miss you” and “I meet you”—is an immersive installation that uses crepuscular, pastel-colored veils to evoke the northern lights. Simultaneously setting and experience, it situates the viewer within Iceland’s natural phenomena: its light and shadow, its endless summer dawns and dusks. As you’re taken on a temporal and sentient journey through time, you lose your bearings but gain something ineffable in the process. I Mist You mimics the way human vision is blurred by memory, thus transforming nature into fable.

The wave-like pattern of the curtains invites us to move through the space. Depending on how we stand in front of the image, the colours and their hues change: are we outside or in?

BIO
Lyse Fournier (b. 1989) is a French sculptor based in Bordeaux. She uses photography and sculpture to create her artworks and has been an active member of the collective studio La Réserve-Bienvenue since 2014.

“If ‘we are such stuff as dreams are made on,’ as Shakespeare wrote in ‘The Tempest,’ Lyse Fournier’s dreams are made of all the impermanence of the sky,” wrote critic Sylvain Auburgan.

Images 1-3:
Images 4-5:

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸(English below)'Bíddu aðeins', Tinna Ottesen (IS) Bíddu aðeins er innsetning sem ...
08/09/2025

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸
(English below)

'Bíddu aðeins', Tinna Ottesen (IS)

Bíddu aðeins er innsetning sem skiptir hægt og rólega um lögun og efni á meðan á sýningunni stendur. Verkið endurspeglar umhverfið og með tímanum má merkja litlar breytingar og hrörnun. Hvert stig umbreytinganna hefur þó sína fegurð og aðdráttarafl — og býður áhorfandanum að verða vitni, ekki bara að gangi tímans, heldur einnig að fegurð hverfulleikans.

Eins og norðurljósin; augnabliks kóreógrafía milli efnis og tíma. Þau ramma inn hrörnun, ekki sem eitthvað sem hverfur heldur slóð þess sem eitt sinn var.

//

'Just Wait', Tinna Ottesen

Just wait is an installation that slowly shifts in form and materiality over the course of the exhibition. Mirroring its surroundings, it responds to time through subtle processes of change and decay. Yet, each stage of its transformation carries its own distinct beauty and allure—inviting the viewer to witness not just the passage of time, but the aesthetics of impermanence.

Like the aurora borealis; a momentary choreography between matter and time, framing decay not as disappearance, but as a trace of what once was.

BIO
Tinna Ottesen (b.1980) is an Icelandic spatial storyteller working across art, design, theatre, dance, performance, and film. Her practice explores the narrative potential of space through performative materials—substances that respond to environmental forces with movement, sound, or transformation. Tinna creates solo installations and collaborates widely on projects for stage, site, and screen, weaving dynamic spatial experiences that invite interaction and reflection.

Images 1-2: Ósk Ebenesersdóttir
Image 3: Rannveig Björk Gylfadóttir

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks 🔸(English below)'Glint, Glimmer, Glow: Djúpavík', Kathryn Cellerini Moore (US) Í ...
08/09/2025

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks 🔸
(English below)

'Glint, Glimmer, Glow: Djúpavík', Kathryn Cellerini Moore (US)

Í nóvember árið 2023 bjó Kathryn Moore ásamt fjölskyldu sinni á Skagaströnd á vegum NES listamiðstöðvar. Vísindamennirnir Sævar Helgi Bragason og Gunnlaugur Björnsson kenndu henni að segulsvið jarðar, breytingar í sólvindum og efnasamsetning andrúmslofts jarðar séu rannsökuð við gerð spár um norðurljósavirkni.

Í verkinu Glint, Glimmer, Glow er sveiflukenndri birtu norðurljósanna yfir Skagaströnd og Þingvöllum kastað á brynju úr keðjum, sem er ofin málmur sem hannaður er til að vernda mannslíkamann. Litrík brynjan, handofin af Kathryn Moore og nemendum hennar, hermir eftir litum og lögum norðurljósa og er á sama tíma myndlíking fyrir segulsviðið sem hálfgegndræpa vörn jarðar.

//

'Glint, Glimmer, Glow: Djúpavík', Kathryn Cellerini Moore (US)

In November 2023, Moore and her family lived at NES Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland. Scientists Sævar Helgi Bragason and Dr. Gunnlaugur Björnsson taught her that Earth’s protective electromagnetic field, the sun’s fluctuating solar energy, and the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere are all used to predict the probability of auroral activity.

In Glint, Glimmer, Glow, the undulating lights over Skagaströnd and Thingvellir of the auroras are projected onto chainmail, a metal fabric designed to protect human bodies. The colorful chainmail, woven by Moore’s students and herself, emulates the colors and shapes of auroras while serving as a metaphor for Earth’s own semi-permeable electromagnetic armor.

BIO
Kathryn Cellerini Moore (b. 1984) is a curious human and interdisciplinary artist who likes to ask the question, “What if?” With a focus on collaboration, eco-friendly materials, and sustainable energy practices, her artistic research celebrates play, scientific inquiry, and wonder.

Images:

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸(English below)‘Sky Rope’, Signe Emdal & Kristian Emdal (DK) Allur feldurinn horf...
08/09/2025

🔸Introducing the artists and artworks🔸
(English below)

‘Sky Rope’, Signe Emdal & Kristian Emdal (DK)

Allur feldurinn horfinn. Rís úr hafi. Veiddur í lófa segls. Milljón loftnet. Trufluð tenging endurheimt. Stigi í lausu lofti. Efa steypt á hvolf. Jaðarstjórnun með ferhyrnd sjáöldur. Járngrip.

Faldereb — beinþýtt sem fallreipi á íslensku — er danskt sjóaraorð yfir reipið sem er notað sem handrið á landgangi — nauðsynlegt öryggisatriði fyrir fólk á ferð á milli heima. Hugtakið er hins vegar oftast notað yfir eitthvað sem gerist á síðustu stundu. “På falderebet” — “á fallreipinu” — þýðir að ná um borð rétt áður en skip fer frá bryggju.

Reipi sem nær milli himins og jarðar hefur engan enda, ekkert upphaf. Fellur en helst í stað. Lóðrétt sameining orsakar og afleiðingar.

//

‘Sky Rope’, Signe Emdal & Kristian Emdal (DK)

All the fur lost. Emerging from the sea rising. Caught in the palm of a sail. One million antennas. Relinking a disrupted connectivity. A ladder suspended. Doubt upended. Peripheral management with rectangular pupils. Metallic grip.

Faldereb — roughly translated “falling rope” — is a nautical term in Danish, describing the rope that serves as a handrail on the embarkation ladder that connects dock and ship — a vital guardrail when humans transit between worlds. However, the term is most commonly used to describe something that happens last-minute. “På falderebet” — “on the falling rope” — means to make it in time, in time before the ship departs.

A rope reaching earth and sky has no end, no beginning. Falling yet holding on. Vertical unification of cause and effect.

BIO
Brother and sister Kristian and Signe both have strong roots in functional and artistic practices. Signe has 20 years of experience in building structures, patterns, and textiles and Kristian has 20 years of experience in producing music, performance, sailing, and restoring historic wooden ships.

Together, they produced a new site-specific sculpture for The Factory 2025.

Images 1-2:
Image 3:
Images 4-8:

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