Björk’s major Iceland exhibition has opened at the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavík, giving visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the artist’s ever-expanding universe of sound, memory, technology and visual storytelling. Running through September 20, 2026, the exhibition feels less like a traditional retrospective and more like a living organism, one that breathes through voices, landscapes, moving images and deeply personal reflections.
At its emotional center are Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil, two works created in memory of Björk’s mother during the artist’s Fossora era. Both pieces have now been reimagined on a theatrical museum scale for the first time.
Grief Becomes Landscape and Chorus
Set within a remote Icelandic valley, Ancestress unfolds as a ritual of ancestry, mourning and renewal. Cinematic landscapes merge with choral movement, creating an experience that feels both intimate and elemental.
Meanwhile, Sorrowful Soil transforms the gallery into an immersive choral chamber. The nine-part installation uses 30 individual speaker channels to carry voices from the Hamrahlíð Choir, directed by Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir. Genelec’s spatial audio system allows every voice to occupy its own place in the room, turning architecture itself into part of the composition.
Visitors are not simply listening. They are standing inside the song.
A First Look at Björk’s Next Creative Chapter
The exhibition also introduces a newly commissioned film and sound installation developed from material connected to Björk’s forthcoming musical work. Created with painter Natalia Kleszczewska and computer graphics director Natalie Liu, Nerve Bloom (remix) blends hand-painted imagery, animation, CGI and physical display technology.
Björk describes the process as “sonic symbolism,” or sound made visual. Her approach begins with music, then expands into color, texture, movement and environment. The result is an animated world where digital avatars become theatrical archetypes and the song itself becomes a sculptural form.
Bottega Veneta joined the project as patron of Nerve Bloom and exhibition partner. Apple supports the experience as its virtual reality partner, while AIAIAI provides headphone technology throughout the galleries.
James Merry’s Metamorphlings Joins the Conversation
Presented alongside Björk’s exhibition in Gallery 4 is Metamorphlings, a companion presentation by James Merry, her longtime visual collaborator and co-creative director. Merry’s handcrafted sculptures explore transformation, organic forms and the strange beauty of bodies becoming something new.
Together, the exhibitions create a dialogue between the natural and the synthetic, the ancient and the futuristic. It is a visual ecosystem with roots in Iceland and branches reaching into another dimension.
A Solar Eclipse Rave Is Coming in August
Björk will extend the experience beyond the museum with Echolalia, a one-day solar eclipse rave scheduled for August 12, 2026, at Víðistaðatún in Hafnarfjörður.
The event will feature a DJ set from Björk, along with performances by Arca, Sideproject and Ronja. It will also celebrate the 40th anniversary of Icelandic collective and label Smekkleysa.
During the eclipse, Iceland will briefly fall into darkness for one minute and four seconds. For an artist who has spent decades turning nature into music and music into visual mythology, the timing feels wonderfully precise.
Björk’s major Iceland exhibition is now open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the National Gallery of Iceland, Fríkirkjuvegur 7, Reykjavík.