OPEN
HISTORY OF ICELAND PART 2 - EIRÍKUR PÁLL SVEINSSON
28.03.2026 – 16.08.2026
Gallery 08
Dr. Eiríkur Páll Sveinsson (1934-2017), an otolaryngologist, attempted to scope out the course of life and the world by, among other things, printing out the internet in its early days. To avoid losing information he printed it and kept it in a spiral binder. He aimed for consistency in the content of each booklet, and often a particular subject would become a whole series. The standard was 100 pages per binding, not necessarily in chronological order, and he often added images, poems and letters to fill the 100 pages.
Eiríkur made 178 booklets, each with its own cover. Eiríkur compiled his diaries from a young age, wrote about his wife (R), his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the Olympics (ÓL), the entrance to the Vaðlaheiðargöng tunnels (VHM). One series of booklets covers his life story. They include reports on potatoes, letters to friends and family, essays from his secondary school years, bodybuilding charts from 2005–2007, photographs of construction projects, reports on moving houses, his own weather observations, his grandchildren’s sporting achievements, and the growth of trees.
He wrote this in one of them:
“As I enjoy recording things and have plenty of time, I just create this in my mind and then put it on the pages here. It's unlikely that anyone will ever read this, except myself. The joy of writing this is the main thing“.
Open has prepared this exhibition with the permission of the family, in collaboration with the designer Eva Árnadóttir, one of Eiríkur’s grandchildren. We sincerely thank them for their cooperation.
In relation to this exhibition Open invited several participants to create their own covers for potential booklets. They are:
Pálína Guðmundsdóttir, Joris Rademaker, Arna Valsdóttir, Hlynur Hallsson, Flóra Culture House, Kaktus, Anna Richardsdóttir, Kristinn G. Harðarson, Sölvi Halldórsson, Logi Leó Gunnarsson, The Nordic House, Markús Þór Andrésson, Ólöf Bóadóttir, Ófeigur Sigurðsson, Saga Líf Sigþórsdóttir, Lóa Björk Björnsdóttir, The Akureyri Order of Freemasons, Unnar Örn J. Auðarson, Bjarki Bragason, Nermine Al Ansari, Helga Dögg, Lani Yamamoto, og Hlökk Þrastardóttir.
We then asked Björg Eiríksdóttir, visual artist, to create two booklets inspired by her father’s work.
