MA Curating Collections and Heritage graduate Íris Gyða Guðbjargardóttir reflects on spending a sabbatical year as a Masters student in Brighton 

I took study leave from my role as Research and Exhibition Project Manager at Reykjavík City Museum with the aim of expanding my academic grounding and growing as a practitioner. Before I even began searching for courses, I wrote a list of what I hoped to gain from my studies. I wanted exposure to new research in museology, object interpretation, and exhibition practice. I wanted hands-on teaching and talks from museum practitioners and researchers. I wanted the chance to complete a placement and learn by both observing and doing. And, if possible, I wanted all of this condensed into about a year, in an English-speaking environment, in a vibrant city.

In other words, I had created a list that seemed almost designed not to be fulfilled.

Then Curating Collections and Heritage appeared in a random Google search. Every requirement I thought I would have to compromise on was not only met but exceeded. The structure of the course, the access to professionals, the placement opportunities, and the academic depth made it exactly the right fit.

Having returned to my position at Reykjavík City Museum, several exhibition projects await—projects that will unfold over the next few years. The first experimental project goes by the working title “Out of the Closets.” A working group from within the museum will bring forward historical sources, personal narratives, objects, and academic research connected to topics that have often been marginalised or silenced: disability, mental health, gender identity, domestic violence, menstruation, contraceptives, racism—the list continues and is far from fixed. The work is just beginning. In some areas, primary sources are scarce or difficult to locate. The silence of archives and public discourse becomes part of the interpretation. Understanding what is not preserved is as important as understanding what is.

The main purpose of the project is to test different methodologies to co-create knowledge that expands beyond the exhibition itself. When museums choose not to confront history and material culture that has been—and still is—considered uncomfortable or “outside” the main narrative, they participate in a form of silence. They remove themselves from important conversations with the communities they exist to serve. Preliminary ideas may change significantly as the work unfolds, but the current concept is to curate “installations” within an exhibition set inside the historic built-in cabinets of a house at Árbær Open Air Museum. Visitors will literally open cabinet doors to reveal stories that have long been hidden from view. One strand of the project will focus on examining how disabled people are represented within this collection.

Figure 1. Patients from the Grensás ward of the City Hospital protest lack of accessibility at the hospital at the house of Parliament. (October 18, 1977). Photographer: Jens Alexsandersson (1946-2015). Reykjavík Museum of Photography.

The accompanying photographs are available on the Reykjavík Museum of Photography website, which is one of five museums and exhibition venues under the umbrella of Reykjavík City Museum. A total of 77,803 images are accessible online, 176 of which are tagged with the keyword “fatlaðir” (“disabled”).This keyword includes photographs of individuals who are mentally or physically disabled, people with Down’s syndrome, blind or visually impaired individuals, deaf or hearing impaired, paralysed individuals, people with missing limbs, and people who use prosthetics.

Figure 2. Halldóra Daníelsdóttir. (1929) . Photographer: Magnús Ólafsson (1862-1937). Reykjavík Museum of Photography.

Central to the project is collaboration. Early on, a working group within the museum will begin reaching out to human rights groups, community organisations, scholars, and individuals with lived experience. Initial conversations, workshops, and review meetings will hopefully give voice to diverse perspectives. This is essential to ensure meaningful and equitable collaboration.

Figure 3. From left: Steinunn Thorsteinsson (1886-1978) photographer and Sigþrúður Anna Brynjólfsdóttir (1889-1928). They worked together at Pétur Brynjólfsson’s photography studio in Reykjavík. (1906-1915).

Throughout my MA, I gained a deeper sense of confidence, knowledge, and practical tools that have strengthened my ability to think more creatively and critically when envisioning new projects.