Red Thread is a diverse and extensive exhibition on the works of artist Hildur Hákonardóttir. During her long career, she has addressed contemporary issues and gender politics, using varied media but mostly weaving. The exhibition contains many of Hildur’s best-known works, which have become important landmarks in Icelandic cultural history and influenced societal changes. There are also installations, photographs, videos and computerised drawings from a career that spans over 50 years. Curator is Sigrún Inga Hrólfsdóttir, but the exhibition is the result of her research into Hildur’s career. In 2021, Reykjavík Art Museum was awarded the Museum Fund’s Excellence Grant to examine women’s part in Icelandic art. Read more at Reykjavík Art Museum

The exhibition is accompanied by the publishing of a superb book on Hildur’s life’s work, with discussion about her key works, photos from her career and and essay by curator Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir, as well as a text by Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon, artist and graphic designer and foreword by Ólöf Kristín Sigurðardóttir, director Reykjavík Art Museum.

The exhibition was awarded as Retrospective of the Year by the Visual Art Council at the Icelandic Art Prize, 2024.

Photographs: Vigfús Birgisson