The 29th Reykjavík Arts Festival opens today with Bandaloop, pioneers in vertical dance performance, at Ingólfstorg in downtown Reykjavík at 5:30 pm.
Guerrilla Girls, a group of “feminist masked avengers,” opened what had been described as the “unveiling of a new commission” at midday today. The commission, pictured above, consisted of large banner on the side of a building in downtown Reykjavík drawing attention to gender inequality in funding granted by the Icelandic Film Centre.
“They use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose discrimination and corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. They undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair,” the group is described on the festival’s website.
Reykjavík Arts Festival, which runs until June 7, includes an array of events across different genres. Emphasizing new commissions, the performances and contemporary and classical exhibitions will take place in both major cultural venues and unconventional spaces.
Other highlights this year include dancer and choreographer Shantala Shivalingappa, hailed as one of the greatest current practitioners of Kuchipudi, and Magnus Maria, a new opera about the ‘right gender.’
Held since 1970, Reykjavík Arts Festival, one of the oldest and most respected arts festivals in the Nordic countries.
For further information about the festival and program, go to artfest.is.
