Goethe Morph* Iceland

We live in a crisis-ridden time of hesitation and are at odds in our pursuit of a positive common future and in addressing the pressing problems of our time. While the human capacity to generate ideas seems limitless, our cerebral potential as architects of planetary exploitation and destruction could arguably be more aligned with our bodily and emotional intelligence. It might enable us to reshape our relationship with the natural world and our fellow inhabitants. Goethe Morph* Iceland, a transcultural intervention of the Goethe-Institut and Nordic House Reykjavík, provides a platform for artists, thinkers, and activists from Iceland, Germany, Greenland, Kenya, Mali, Poland, and Syria to share their ideas along a unifying theme: How we always wanted to have lived.

From September 5–15, 2022, the results of these explorations will be presented to the public in a holistic program of think tanks and performances, lectures and exhibitions—on site at Nordic House Reykjavík, as well as outdoors and digitally. Poetic reflections on the body as a political, cultural and social oracle merge with future-archaeological, transmigratory, decolonizing and queer visions of history, heritage, nature and corporeality. It is a recalibration of common knowledge and an invitation to all of us to actively shape the morphology of our being in the world. Among the programme’s projects are:

Walther von Goethe Foundation: The collective was founded in Reykjavík by artists Wolfgang Müller and Ásta Ólafsdóttir to protest the closure of the Goethe-Institut Iceland in 1998. Now it pops up for audience-engaging research around ornithology, music, and tourism.

Next…II—Mali/Iceland: For three months, dancers Kettly Noël from Bamako and Charmene Pang from Reykjavík exchange via performative video letters, addressing issues of soil, territory and belonging in their respective environments. The outcomes of the project, directed by choreographer Janne Gregor, are presented as performances and a film installation.

Growing Body of Evidence: In this exhibition, artists Aneta Grzeszykowska, Colette Sadler with Mikko Gaestel, and VARNA reflect on aspects of corporeality, artificiality, and the identity of the (human) body as a harbinger and carrier of knowledge.

Unexpected Lessons—Decolonizing Nature: Preceded by a think tank in Nairobi, the project Talking Objects Lab investigates the extraordinary nature of Iceland as an “other object.” What makes nature the other? What role does the decoupling of nature and culture play in this? And how can we decolonise our view of the world?

Oumuamua: A transmedial sound sculpture interacts with the Marc Sinan Company, local musicians, and the audience, exploring the post-anthropocentric sound of the world.

Morph* Talks: International artists, thinkers and food activists, including Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, Liz Rosenfeld, Sabine Scho, Chef Kabui, FRZNTE and Sóley Frostadóttir, frame and interweave the programme with philosophical inputs, dinners, workshops for children, spinning rooftops and other artistic impulses.

The notion of morphing has strongly influenced the concept of the two curators Arnbjörg María Danielsen and Thomas Schaupp. Morphology meaning the study of forms and shapes, the term is used in an expanded manner: “We want to understand the form of things as a constant negotiation—always in the process of becoming.” Morph* also expresses the long-term vision to enable a fluid and growing network of cultural exchange in Iceland that will last beyond this year’s edition. “We want to enhance a liminal space where philosophy, art and life morph, a space in which sustainable entanglements of acting together become possible.” The idea to initiate this collaborative format exploring new ways of togetherness was conceived during the pandemic. “In many ways it felt we were at a crossroad to new and other futures”, says Katharina Ruckteschell-Katte, Regional Director of Goethe-Institut North-Western Europe. “With Goethe Morph* Iceland, we want to envision these together with artists, thinkers and partners at exactly this moment in time. We hope it will be a fruitful ground for new forms of collaboration in the years to come.”

The full event calendar is online here.

A transcultural intervention by the Goethe-Institut and The Nordic House Reykjavík, curated by Thomas Schaupp and Arnbjörg María Danielsen.