EXHIBITIONS
On June 28, 2013 Reykjavik City Hall hosted an exhibition entitled The Art of Being Icelandic, which was result of its collaboration with UNESCO and a project known as the “City of Literature.” The exhibition focused on Icelandic literature in translation and design, and provided Johann Sigmarsson with his first public venue for exhibiting the handmade furniture he had constructed out of the remains of the old harbor in Reykjavík. This appropriately coincided with the harbor’s 100 year anniversary. All the furniture was sold at the exhibition and was lauded in the media for its original design and attractive style. That exhibition was the beginning of Art project now collectively known as The Equator Memorial Project.
The armchair, “The Gift of the Spirit,” was selected for The World Interiors’ News Annual Awards in 2013, an international competition in architecture which is a part of The World Architecture News.
The award ceremony was held at the SAATCHI GALLERY in London November 28, 2013.
The SAATCHI GALLERY is currently considered as one of ten most highly respected private galleries in the world. The World Architecture News (WAN) is one of the major international organisations in this field and is now the world’s leading supplier of news to the global architectural community.
In December 2013 the armchair, “The Gift of the Spirit,” and desk, “SomethingRegal,” by Johann Sigmarsson were selected for the Design Award & Competition 2014 in Milan. In April 2014 the competition announced the armchair got Runner-up for A’Design Award and the desk is A’Design Winner followed by group exhibition at Broletto di Como at Piazza Del Duomo, 22100, Como / Italy.
The first Art- History- and Art exhibition “When The Atomic Bomb Exploded” Harpa, Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavík exhibited a collection of art pieces from The Equator Memorial Project / International itinerant artists project. The exhibition opened 15th of December 2016, when it was formally 60 years from the beginning of the diplomatic relations between Iceland and Japan. The first exhibition is achieved partly in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan and was opened by President of Iceland, Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Yasuhiko Kitagawa. The theme of the exhibition is material from Hiroshima and Reykjavík Harbour with historical informations on the pieces.
Down below left photo / From left; Ambassador of Japan in Iceland, Mr. Yasuhiko Kitagawa, Japanese model for motifs of sculpture of Hiroshima victims created from over 100 years old wood salvaged from the recently excavated old Reykjavik Harbour, Ms. Nina Katrín Jónsdóttir Ichihashi, Jóhann Sigmarsson Artist, President of Iceland, Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and Japanese model for motifs of sculpture of Hiroshima victims created from over 100 years old wood salvaged from the recently excavated old Reykjavik harbour Ms. Asako Ichihashi.
NEXT EXHIBITION
History- and Art Exhibition, “LONE WOLF” at REYKJAVIK CITY HALL in honour and respect for the victims of the Norwegian terrorist attacks by Anders Behring Breivik.
The materializations of exhibition “LONE WOLF” will include artefacts created from two cracked and exploded windows from the Prime Minister’s Office of the Norwegian Government Quarter, building no. R4 which Norwegian officials began demolishing in 2015, but had to postpone because of two rare monumental murals by Pablo Picasso in Y-Block, a brutalist structure designed by Erling Viksjø. It will as well contain photographs, video art, sculptures, installations, information boards with photographs on the terrifying ideology of insane man who builded his actions on hatred prejudice, racism and religious extremism, drawings and sculptures will be created which have visual quotations to “THE FISHERMEN” and “THE SEAGULL”, two abovementioned murals by PICASSO that were sandblasted onto the buildings concrete walls in collaboration with the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar. Protests have arisen over what to do with the artworks by the Norwegian public and from some of the major art organizations, galleries and museums worldwide. We will use various companies to assist us such as wooden and metal workshops, glass installation company, stone grinding and sawing company, fab lap, printing house, etc.
Left photo / “THE FISHERMAN” monumental mural by Pablo Picasso at the Y-block of the Norwegian Government buildings. Right photo / Picasso shows his sketches from a book of his sandblasted artworks.
We will cooperate with ceramics manufacturing company for making a statue after one of our wooden sculpture which is imitated from the monumental murals “THE SEAGULL” by Pablo Picasso. The sculpture will be created in wood from Utøya Island in three-dimensional figure which the company can then slip cast in ceramics. The name of statue will be “THE SEAGULL” after the mural and it will be informational text about the Norwegian terrorist attacks at the bottom. The statue will be in Limited Edition and a symbol for the victims.
Royal Norwegian Embassy in Iceland are collaborating with the exhibition “LONE WOLF” and will open with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Her Excellency AUD LISE NORHEIM, who offers light refreshments and invite various guests as well as victims that walked unabashedly into the terrorist attacks to be at the opening of the event. The embassy will assist with requesting wooden planks from Utøya Island for creating frames and artworks for the exhibition.
The original mural “THE SEAGULL” were sandblasted into one of the Norwegian Government Quarter buildings on concrete wall in collaboration with the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar.
History- and Art Exhibition “LONE WOLF” will be at REYKJAVIK CITY HALL in honour and respect for the victims of the Norwegian terrorist attacks. Artists; JÓHANN SIGMARSSON, KSENIJA SIGMARSSON, ÁRNI INGÓLFSSON and assistants for the creations of the art pieces. The exhibition is curated by ROBERT CARRITHERS.
For creating the sculpture Jóhann Sigmarsson will use a photograph of the original monumental mural of the seagull by Picasso as well as rough freehand drawings by Árni Ingólfsson of the seagull that have already been sketched up in three dimensions. The drawings will divide dozens of all angles of the subject. The sculpture is created out of wooden planks from Reykjavík Harbour and Utøya Island. As the larger drawing below shows, a idea has arisen that the sculpture could possibly be in accordance with the size of the original monumental mural of the seagull that were sandblasted on a wall in the H-Block of the Norwegian Government buildings (Regjeringskvartalet).
THE FUTURE EXHIBITION / HISTORY- AND ART EXHIBITION AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF UNESCO IN PARIS FOR SUPPORT OF SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT, JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND PEACE.
The Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris is collaborating with The Equator Memorial Project and envisages favourably to exhibit a collection of the art pieces at their headquarters.
The idea is to have the exhibition for support of sustainable environment, justice, freedom and peace. The theme of the exhibition will be material from all the historical materials / ruins which has been donated to the project and the historical informations on the pieces.
The Exhibition will end with auction and Peace memorial dinner “Make a Peace Worldwide” at the headquarters. 10th of December in honour to the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is announcement of gifts to humanitarian and community projects worldwide which has been accumulated through the sale of the artworks of The Equator Memorial Project and its artists charity fund.