Inside Björk’s Monumental Museum Takeover
Two shows at the National Museum of Iceland go deep into the singer’s immersive artistry and style — complete with a solar eclipse rave, of course.
From Debut to Nature Manifesto, Björk never misses and she’s only getting better with time. After a surprise appearance at the Venice Biennale in a head-to-toe fiberglass fit, the avant-garde artist-songstress returns to her homeland a massive museum takeover (and solar eclipse rave) at the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavik.
Presented by Bottega Veneta, the show, titled Echolalia, brings together three monumental installations: two immersive reworks of songs from her Fossera era, alongside an exclusive preview of “Nerve Bloom,” a new track from her upcoming album.
“Ancestress” and “Sorrowful Soil,” both drawn from her 2022 album, take shape as deeply personal audiovisual works created in memory of her mother, environmental activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir. In the first piece, the artist reckons with grief, ancestry and the cyclical nature of life amid a remote Icelandic valley, complete with musicians and dancers. The latter, a nine-part choral installation, is captured through an oval-shaped aperture — fields of molten lava spew and bend beneath an elegiac, thirty-speaker sonic environment.
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The show also offers an exclusive sneak peek into her highly anticipated 2027 album, with the its third piece, “Nerve Bloom.” The album is set to release in 2027, though the title and further details are yet to come. “I wanted to merge old things with tech, giving it soul and a meaning,” she said on the work in a recent post. “Painting and computer programming can co-exist, encouraging each other to bloom even further towards a mutual world.”
In addition to Echolalia, the museum has unveiled a companion exhibition, Metamorphlings, which focuses in on the singer’s long-time creative relationship with James Merry, the embroiderer behind her most iconic, otherworldly looks. Over 80 masks Merry’s created with and for the artist will be on view.
Echolalia and Metamorphlings are now on view in Reykjavík through September 19. As part of the Echolalia festivities, Björk will be hosting a one-day total-darkness rave on the August 12 solar eclipse featuring performances by herself, Arca, Ronja and more. Head to the museum’s website for more information.
National Gallery of Iceland
Suðurgata 41,
102 Reykjavík,
Iceland
