Museum Night
Time Travel to the 19th Century
For centuries, Icelanders incorporated various forms of entertainment, recreation and education into the hours of work in the evenings in the „baðstofa“ (living room of the turf-farm). While members of the household sat on their beds with work in hand, one of them would chant, tell a story or read aloud from old or new publications for the entertainment of the others.
On Museum Night, visitors are invited to time-travel back to the 19th century, sit on a bench and work the wool and let members of the “Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn” entertain them. The program is continuous and varied as one performance succeeds the other, such as chanting of various kinds of rhymes and verses performed by men, women and children, a sage tells a fairy tale, verses and poems are read aloud, fun lessons in prosody are given, music is played on “langspil”, there will be singing, a small tournament where three poets compete in producing and performing original verses with a specific theme, and a ring dance/vikivaki. Guests can join at any time and leave at any time.