Alchemy at the Alembic

1. november at 15:00

Alchemy at the Alembic is a sensual journey through scent, touch, and the magic of plants. During this workshop, you’ll discover the secrets of distilling essential oils and hydrosols – we’ll be working with a real alembic, observing the transformation of plants into aromatic essence. You’ll also learn facial self-massage techniques that support natural beauty and deep relaxation. In the second part of the workshop, we’ll create fizzy herbal bath bombs – perfect for a soothing home ritual.

The workshop will be led by Paulina Żakieta – herbalist, educator, and nature enthusiast. For years, she has been conducting original herbal, cosmetic, and creative workshops across Poland and Europe. She blends traditional knowledge with a modern approach, creating space for meaningful connection with plants, oneself, and others. Founder of the Macerat Foundation and owner of the herbal-medical shop Górskie Zmysły.

Registration required at fraedsla@listasafnarnesinga.is

Limited places available

FORREST FORRESTER Concert

8. november at 15:00

FORREST FORRESTER is a Polish cellist and composer currently based in Reykjavík. In her solo performances, she explores the cello’s unusual timbres, layering vocals and bass guitar with live looping to create dark, immersive soundscapes. Her music blends neoclassical and experimental elements with heavy, hypnotic undertones, which she describes as hypnagogic — evoking the state between wakefulness and sleep, where thoughts and images blur and transform into elusive, dreamlike forms. The event is free and you don’t need to book anything.

Writing workshop with Maó Alheimsdóttir

22. november at 13:00

Join us to explore your creativity through the power of words. In a friendly and inspiring space, you’ll discover new ways of self-expression and imagination. No experience is needed – just curiosity and an open mind.

Maó Alheimsdóttir writes in Icelandic, although her mother tongue is Polish. She received a Nýrækt grant for the manuscript of the novel “Veðufregnir og jarðafarir” in 2021. Her essay “Mín litla Mongólía” appeared in magazine of Mál and Menning I in 2021. She published a poetry book “Ljóðatal” as a poetry performance at the Reykjavík Poetics event in 2023. Poems by Mao appeared in Ljóðabref Tunglsinns and Polyphony of foreign origin. Maó also made a radio show “Að fjallabaki” in collaboration with Rúv. Maó is the chairman of “Ós Pressunar”, an association of writers and poets in Reykjavík.

Workshop in english, but you can write in your own language.

Registration required at fraedsla@listasafnarnesinga.is

Limited places available

Andrzejki

30. november at 13:00

Andrzejki (St. Andrew’s Eve) is a traditional Polish fortune-telling night celebrated from November 29 to 30, on the eve of St. Andrew’s Day. Originally focused on unmarried girls predicting their marital future, it later became a fun social event for everyone. Popular customs include pouring hot wax through a keyhole into water, lining up shoes towards the door, or divining with apple peels. It was also the last chance for festivities before Advent.

The event is free and requires no registration. Come and see what fortune awaits you!

Polish Cultural Days where both artists of Polish origin and Icelandic visitors who want to learn about Polish culture meet in the museum and celebrate the cultures of both countries.

Polish Cultural Days will take place at the LÁ Art Museum from November 1-30 and will feature various artists with art exhibitions, design, music and more to introduce the rich culture of Poland to Icelanders and all those who visit the museum.

Verkefnastjóri / Project Manger of POL IS ART @martynahopsa

The event is held in collaboration with the Polish Embassy in Iceland.

Here is an overview of the events, but more information is yet to be added.

1. nóvember

12:00 Vídeóhorn / VIDEO CORNER – Katarzyna Krutak

13:00 Paulina Żakieta – ALEMBIC workshop

8. nóvember

12:00 ‘Pająk’ – Polish Folk decorations workshop – by Anna Maria Tabaczyńska and Martyna Hopsa

15:00 Forrest Forrester – concert

15. nóvember

13:00 – Reykjavik Letterpress – block printing workshop

22. nóvember

13:00 – Maó Alheimsdóttir – writing workshop

30. nóvember

13:00 – 16:00 ANDRZEJKI

Andrzejki is a day when, according to Polish tradition, various fortune-telling rituals are performed. We will be pouring wax from a candle through a keyhole together, and then reading our fortune for the coming year from the shape of its shadow.
Martyna Hopsa

Solid Maze

Solid Maze Of All That’s Left Untold.

Text by Erin Honeycutt.

Time is a place. Time is love. Where do you stop and take a look around?

Time is a place. Time is love. These words linger as more than metaphor; they suggest that time is not only something we move through, but something we inhabit. Time has texture, atmosphere, even emotion. In this framework, memory isn’t a retrieval of something lost but an ongoing negotiation with what continues to live in the background of perception. Time opens a space, and love fills it.

At the heart of Piotr Zbierski’s work lies a meeting of relationships with different intervals of time, a continuum of nuances rather than dualities that mirror the simultaneous lyricism and violence of existence and invite us to consider how disparate sensations, feelings, and events collide within the body, and can only be re‑woven into unity through art. Zbierski—whose practice spans photography, print, collage, and archive—asks: where does lived experience end and narrative begin? His lens traces a river that carries us between two shores: one of polished stories, the other of raw memory. The result is a maze of possibilities across a long arc of time, forwards and backwards, deep and wide; both a structure and a metaphor, evoking labyrinths, animistic forms, and glacial memory.