Reykjavík Arts Festival – Listahátíð í Reykjavík is starting tomorrow and it will be going through the first weekend of June. The festival, which is dedicated to all forms of artistic expression, from literature to performing and visual arts, is traditionally one of the main cultural events in Iceland. Its honorary President is Russian-Icelandic conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Some highlights for this year are Yann Tiersen’s, Arcadi Volodos’ and Brian Ferry’s concerts at Harpa; the collective visual arts project among Nordic and Baltic countries titled (I)ndependent People, which will be involving several galleries, museums and other exhibition spaces across the capital area; Bernd Ogrodnik’s puppet theater adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea; a series of readings that will take place in the home of famous local writers; Þorleifur Örn Arnarsson’s Peer Gynt, a collaborative effort of the Reykjavík Arts Festival with the National Theatre of Iceland. According to the organizers, this edition will be a unique blend of “classical and progressive” and it will feature hundreds of artists from around the world.
This is the official booklet for edition 2012 of Listahátíð í Reykjavík 2012: feel free to check it to know about time and location of the various events.
The first edition of Listahátíð í Reykjavík dates back to 1970 and until the year 2004 it took place every other year. It is now being held yearly during the second half of the month of May, also thanks to funds provided by the City Council and the Ministry of Education.
A detailed overview on this year’s activities, complete with links to buy tickets, is available on the festival’s site.