Opening of Vasulka Chamber
16 October 2014
Symposium: 14–15 October
The National Gallery of Iceland
Fríkirkjuvegur 7
101 Reykjavík
Iceland
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm
T + 354 5159600
vasulka-chamber [at] listasafn.is
Vasulka Chamber
On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of The National Gallery of Iceland, and in collaboration with artists Steina and Woody Vasulka, we proudly launch Vasulka Chamber (Vasulka-stofa), department of video and media art in Iceland at the National Gallery of Iceland.
Vasulka Chamber, initiated by The National Gallery of Iceland and VASULKA Inc., includes a part of the archive of the Vasulkas, oversees and facilitates further research on media art with the specific aim to preserve and mediate Icelandic art that relates to video, digital and multimedia art, just as the museum is devoted to the preservation of art of non-electronic mediums. An important part of this preservation process involves rescuing video works from damage, and preserving techniques and tools that have been replaced by different technology and devices. That is why another important task for the Vasulka Chamber is to digitize a great part of analogue multimedia works of Icelandic artists for future mediation.
As Icelandic citizens living in the US it is the sincere desire of the Vasulkas to keep a large part of their archive in Iceland. Vasulka Chamber is designed to be a hub for video, digital, audio and multimedia art in Iceland, with a primary focus on the video and media art of the Vasulkas.
Symposium
In conjunction with the opening of Vasulka Chamber, The National Gallery of Iceland will host a two-day symposium. The first program is titled “Nordic Digital Conversation” and the second is titled “Steina and Woody Vasulka’s Archives.”
Speakers:
Steina and Woody Vasulka; Hanna Maria Attila, Director of AV-Arkki, Helsinki; Don Foresta, research artist and theoretician in art; Dr. Jean Gagnon, Director of preservation and access to collections at the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal, Québec, former Director of the DanielLangloisFoundation; Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, filmmaker; Anna-Karin Larsson, Director of Filmform, Stockholm; Per Platou, Director and Ida Ghosh, Manager of Videokunstarkivet, Oslo; Dr. Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Director of The National Gallery of Iceland; Kristín Scheving, Head of Vasulka Chamber; Gaby Wijers, Director of LIMA, Amsterdam; moderator: Kati Kivinen, curator at Kiasma Art Museum, Helsinki
About Steina & Woody Vasulka
Steina [Steinunn Briem Bjarnadóttir] (b. 1940) was born and raised in Reykjavik and studied violin in Prague in 1959–1965. There she met her husband to be, filmmaker Woody [Bohuslav Peter] Vasulka (b/ 1937). In 1964 they got married and Woody received citizenship in Iceland. A year later they moved to New York City, where they soon became actively involved in the development of the global video revolution that was in the making. In 1971 they founded The Kitchen in Manhattan, the most renowned multimedia center in the world. In 1973 Steina and Woody left New York City and settled in Buffalo, where they worked as professors at SUNY University, the world’s first university department of practical multimedia studies. In 1980 they moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they have since lived and worked.
Press contact:
Kristín Scheving
Head of Vasulka Chamber, National Gallery of Iceland
T +35 45159605 / vasulka-chamber [at] listasafn.is
