Árbæjarsafn er útisafn sem var stofnað árið 1957 en auk Árbæjar eru þar yfir tuttugu hús, sem mynda torg, þorp og sveit. Í Árbæjarsafni er leitast við að gefa hugmynd um byggingalist og lifnaðarhætti í Reykjavík á 19. og 20. öld. Hvert og eitt hús geymir annaðhvort sjálfstæða sögusýningu eða þá að þar er sýnt dæmigert heimili frá ákveðnu tímabili. Á safninu má einnig sjá gamaldags verkstæði ýmiskonar þar sem sjá má dæmigerða aðstöðu, tækni og tól.

Árbær was an established farm well into the 20th century, and the museum opened there in 1957. Árbær is now an open-air museum with more than 20 buildings which form a town square, a village and a farm. Most of the buildings have been relocated from central Reykjavik. The Museum seeks to give an idea of architecture and way of life in Reykjavik in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each house contains either an independent historical exhibition or a typical home from a specific period. The museum also houses old-fashioned workshops of typical facilities, technology and tools.

The guide takes guests to all the main houses of the museum and tells their story.

Guided tour at Árbær Open Air Museum

Leiðsögumaður fer með gesti í öll helstu hús Árbæjarsafns og segir frá sögu þeirra.

Leiðsögn á Árbæjarsafni

Fræðsla

Leiðsögn

Á sýningunni eru verk þeirra nemenda sem ljúka diplómanámi í skapandi ljósmyndun frá Ljósmyndaskólanum í desember 2024.
Verkin á sýningunni eru fjölbreytt, viðfangsefni nemenda mismunandi og framsetning, listræn sýn og fagurfræði ólík. Endurspegla útskriftarverk nemenda þannig gróskuna í samtímaljósmyndun og fjölbreytta möguleika sem felast í ljósmyndamiðlinum.

Sýningarstjóri: Katrín Elvarsdóttir.

Viðburðamyndin er eftir Sigríði Hermannsdóttur

Sýningin stendur frá 13. desember 2024 til 5.janúar 2025.
Aðgengi er gott á Ljósmyndasafninu. 
Hjálparhundar eru velkomnir í safnið. 
Strætisvagnar: Næstu stoppistöðvar heita Hafnarhús, Lækjartorg, Ráðhúsið (2-5 mín. gangur). 
Bílastæði eru við safnið og í nærliggjandi bílastæðahúsum.

This exhibition features the graduation works of students who have completed their diploma in Creative Photography from the School of Photography in December 2024.

The works are diverse, showcasing the students' various subjects, artistic visions, and aesthetics. 

They reflect the growth of contemporary photography and highlight the wide range of possibilities within the medium.
Katrín Elvarsdóttir curates the exhibition.
The accompanying photo is a piece by María Ármanns, one of the graduating students.

The exhibition runs from 13 December 2024 - 5 January 2025.

The photo is taken by Sigríður Hermannsdóttir

Access for the disabled is good. 
Service dogs are welcome at the museum. 
Public transport: The nearest bus stops are called Hafnarhús, Lækjartorg, and Ráðhúsið (2-5 min. away). 
Paid parking is available by the museum and in neighbouring parking houses.

Welcome to the School of Photography 2024 graduation exhibition. Graduating students Sigríður Hermannsdóttir and Ingunn Rós Haraldsdóttir will guide guests through the exhibition.

Guided tour in Icelandic led by two students

Verið velkomin á útskriftarsýningu Ljósmyndaskólans. Útskriftarnemendurnir Sigríður Hermannsdóttir og Ingunn Rós Haraldsdóttir munu leiða gesti í gegnum sýninguna.

Leiðsögn útskriftarnema Ljósmyndaskólans

Borgarstjórinn í Reykjavík, Einar Þorsteinsson, opnar sýninguna.
Léttar veitingar í boði.
Sýningarspjall með Daríu Sól Andrews, sýningarstjóra, sunnudaginn 19. janúar kl. 14.
Sýningin er hluti af Ljósmyndahátíð Íslands 2025.
Kynnið ykkur viðburðardagskrá Ljósmyndahátíðar Íslands á tipf.is.

Aðgengi er gott á Ljósmyndasafninu. 

Hjálparhundar eru velkomnir í safnið. 

Strætisvagnar: Næstu stoppistöðvar heita Hafnarhús, Lækjartorg, Ráðhúsið (2-5 mín. gangur). 
Bílastæði eru við safnið og í nærliggjandi bílastæðahúsum.

The Mayor of Reykjavík, Einar Þorsteinsson, will inaugurate the exhibition.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Additionally, there will be an exhibition talk with Daría Sól Andrews on Sunday, January 19, at 14:00.
This exhibition is part of the Icelandic Photography Festival 2025.
For more information about the festival programme, please visit tipf.is.

The exhibition runs from 1 January - 16 March 2025.

Access for people with disabilities is good. 
Service dogs are welcome at the museum. 
Public transport: The nearest bus stops are called Hafnarhús, Lækjartorg, Ráðhúsið (2-5 min. away). 
Paid parking is available by the museum and in neighbouring parking houses.

You are invited to the opening of the exhibition "Weathered."
Join us on Friday, January 17, at 17:00 at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography on the top floor at Tryggvagata 15.

Opening: Weathered

Verið velkomin á opnun sýningarinnar VEÐRUN föstudaginn 17. janúar kl. 17:00 í Ljósmyndasafni Reykjavíkur, Tryggvagötu 15, 6. hæð.

Opnun: VEÐRUN

Opnun

The School of Photography's Graduation exhibition 2024. Photo: María Ármanns.

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

 The School of Photography's Graduation exhibition 2024

Laimonas Dom Baranauskas│Years in Between  

Árbær Open Air Museum

Growing Pains

Heimir Freyr Hlöðversson│We are Earth – We are Water

Reykjavík Maritime Museum

Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries

Viðey Island

Milestones│Richard Serra

The Imagine Peace Tower

Consumption – Reykjavík in the 20th century

The Age of Carts

Come and play!

Aðalstræti

The Christian celebration of Christmas in ancient times, and right up until the 19th century, was not lavish, as Christmas was not the big celebration we see today.  It was an important Church day, but Easter was considered much more significant, as were Whitsun and Ascension Day.  The resurrection and the message were considered more important than the birth.

But Christmas was still a holiday, people indulged in food and drink, if they could.  Farms were cleaned, candlelight was lit, and sometimes there were games or dancing, although the church didn't quite approve of it.


Most people are familiar with the old custom of sending Christmas cards.  Although the cards have changed over time, their purpose has not changed – to connect people, families, relatives and friends and to wish happiness. In Iceland, Christmas cards became very important in the first half of the 20th century when people moved from the countryside to Reykjavík. In centuries before, Christmas greeting letters were better known abroad, which then changed and were shortened into a card because it was simpler and faster. In Iceland, the first Christmas cards came on the market just before the turn of the century and they were from Denmark and Germany. Many artists welcomed it for drawing and painting various images of Santa Claus and gifts on Christmas cards, which over time became a large industry.

Following the digitization of our time, this custom has, unfortunately in the opinion of many, moved more and more into computers and devices, and people send Christmas greetings and pictures to each other on social media.

Family sitting at a dining table, 1939-1940. Photo Óskar Gíslason

Many people probably had Iceland’s traditional “hangikjöt”, smoked lamb, which was a festive food, but not necessarily limited to Christmas as it is today.  Potatoes then began to appear from the 1800s, but modern side dishes such as red cabbage, green beans and the white "Bechamel" sauce came from Denmark and began to appear at the end of the 19th century.

The same can be said about glazed ham, which is a very Danish food that became popular in the first half of the 20th century, and we can also thank the Danes for the "Ris a la mande".

But we have the Icelandic leaf bread all to ourselves and this is not known in the other northern countries.  There are records of it at the beginning of the 19th century and it seems to have been on tables on various occasions, not just Christmas. 


Another thing we also have that is very Icelandic is the Christmas drink "Malt & appelsín", which is malt and orange soda.  There are malt drinks in many countries, as well as orange drinks, but Iceland seems to be the only place where these were deliberately mixed to bring out a certain taste.

This started in 1955 when _Egils appelsín_ first came on the market. Malt extract had been produced for 32 years and was considered good but was more expensive than other sodas.  It was therefore ideal to drink it with the orange mixture, although many people also put Coca-Cola in this mixture.


According to custom, a Christmas tree was supposed to be evergreen, which in central Europe, Great Britain and Denmark was of course a spruce tree, as it was quite elegant.  But in Iceland we weren’t as lucky, as spruce did not start to be planted here until the late 19th century, and it was both expensive and difficult to transport them to the country.

What many Icelanders did instead was to build themselves a Christmas tree and decorate it with evergreen plants such as heather or juniper branches.  Small candles were then placed on these homemade trees to light up living rooms all over the country.

Sometime later, or in the first half of the 20th century, the import of spruce trees, but also artificial trees from Germany, began.  These artificial trees became very popular and were used even between generations in the 20th century.


As for Christmas decorations, they came late and also originate from Denmark, Germany or Sweden. Candlelight was considered a decent decoration at the time when Icelanders lit up the short day with cod liver oil lamps, but Christmas trees were not known here until the 1850s, and then by Danish or Danish-educated officials.

The tree decorations, or Christmas balls, also originally came from Germany.  These were usually spheres made of razor-thin glass, and this type of glass had been used out there for many centuries.

Other Christmas decorations, both bought and homemade, were for example Christmas bags and came from Denmark. Likewise, the advent lights, which became very popular in the 1970s, but which originally came to the country from Sweden.


Anyhow, there is one Christmas decoration, which is a bit special and could have a Swedish model, although it is difficult to judge that.  There are the small Christmas churches that existed in many Icelandic homes in the middle and second half of the 20th century, but churches in Iceland are very significant in our architectural history. 

These were small models of churches, decorated with cotton on the roofs and towers and usually with a light bulb inside.  These Christmas churches are not sold out of a store but always homemade, but despite that, there were very many of them and they are possibly still in homes around the country.

This custom is still maintained today and the execution has changed in line with technological progress, as 3D printing has become popular for such works.



There is also one Christmas tradition that we’ve become from abroad, but that is giving gifts in the shoes.  The custom most likely originates from legends of Saint Nicholas, who was said to be generous.  But the custom of children receiving small gifts in socks, shoes or other small items existed in central Europe at the end of the Middle Ages and spread from there throughout the Western world.

These gifts usually come only once, on Christmas night.  The same thing happened in Iceland when the custom began to appear in the 1930s, but it changed over the years because here we have many Santa Clauses and not just one (called the Yule lads).

Around and after the 1970s, Icelandic children began to have their shoes filled thirteen times, and therefore profited greatly from these special Icelandic conditions.


Christmas Cards and Traditions

Jón Páll Björnsson 
##### - Project Manager, Children's Culture and Museum Learning


Jóhanna Guðrún Árnadóttir 
##### - Project Manager, Digital Media Content and Exhibitions

Christmas Cards and Traditions

Christmas Cards

Christmas dinner

Malt & Orange Soda

Christmas tree

Christmas decorations

The Small Christmas Churches

“To give in the shoe”

Christ­mas Cards and Tra­di­tions

Christ­mas Cards

Christ­mas din­ner

Malt & Or­ange Soda

Christ­mas tree

Christ­mas dec­or­a­tions

The Small Christ­mas Churches

“To give in the shoe”

Christmas Cards and Traditions

Christmas Cards

Christmas dinner

Malt & Orange Soda

Christmas tree

Christmas decorations

The Small Christmas Churches