![\"Ásta](\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Ásta-photo-by-Sunday-and-White-Studio-Courtesy-of-the-Icelandic-Pavilion-1230x820.png\")
“There is also a huge culture in Iceland about going out in the freezing cold and getting some ice cream. I think that has something to do with humour”
\n\n\n\nArtReview sent a questionnaire to artists and curators exhibiting in and curating the various national pavilions of the 2026 Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published daily in the leadup to and during the Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May through 22 November.
\n\n\n\nÁsta Fanney Sigurdardottir is representing Iceland; the pavilion is in the Docks Cantieri Cucchini.
\n\n\n\nCelebrating Visions. Versace partners with ArtReview to share stories from the 2026 Venice Biennale.
\n\n\n\nArtReview Tell ArtReview what you plan to exhibit in Venice. What has influenced or inspired you?
\n\n\n\nÁsta Fanney Sigurdardottir They used to make boats at the location of the exhibition, vessels of transportation. I am interested in this realm: vessels transporting information, energy or a state of mind into the world. Coming from an island, I have always found the water, and the manmade objects we create to navigate it, inspirational themes. I was very inspired by buoys in Venice and different shapes of buoys around the world. Buoys are such a peculiar thing in shape and colour. They float yet stay connected to the far deep. They serve as a navigation tool, mark the boundaries between safe passage and hidden danger. They remind me of guardians, of nonhuman friends. I am interested in this charge of an object with a presence. Similar to charms and amulets, carriers of invisible things that belong to the realm of imagination.
\n\n\n\nIn Venice I am presenting objects of imagination, foldable and portable universes from ancient times that speak into the future. Performances of dismantling structures and reweaving destiny and cosmological forces with a playful approach in a gentle rebellion.
AR In what ways (if at all) does your work relate to the theme of the Biennale exhibition, In Minor Keys?
ASF It was a bit surprising reading about the theme when it was published: I felt there are so many aspects in my exhibition that relate to that theme.
\n\n\n\nAR Why is the Venice Biennale still important, if at all?
\n\n\n\nASF It’s a meeting place, one of the biggest in the world. Meeting places are important, the communion of different energies and perspectives, like a check-in booth for humanity. We can say, Hello, where are we, and where are we going? An open discussion and a place to showcase the people who have moved people. I think it is an excellent light beam on the things that are important and the curious new fresh winds that can take us to places.
\n\n\n\nAR What role does a national pavilion play at a time of increasing confrontational nationalisms? Is it about expressing difference or commonality?
\n\n\n\nASF I think our world now emphasises the structure of dividing things, but ‘nation’ originally refers to something that people have in common, an origin. I think politics have hijacked a lot about how we understand nations, twisting them into tools of control and differentiation. But nations should be platforms for connecting to others of different origins.
\n\n\n\nAR Who, for you, is the most important artist (in any discipline) that your country has produced?
\n\n\n\nASF I am not sure a country can produce an artist; artists produce themselves in connection to the people around. But I think Björk is one of the many heroes we have in this place. Her endless creativity is something we are very lucky to be able to enjoy and experience. So much freedom and inspiration comes from this person, the ability to create and fight for a world that is good, for people and earth to live in harmony. But I am a big admirer of the art scene here, so many talented people and every one of them important.
\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Photo-3-1230x1640.png\")
AR What is something you want people to know about your nation that they might not know already?
\n\n\n\nASF There is also a huge culture in Iceland about going out in the freezing cold and getting some ice cream. I think that has something to do with humour. Also many people here can be very spontaneous about things, not plan so much, going with the flow and following intuition.
\n\n\n\nAR Given that you are exhibiting in a national pavilion, is there something (a quality or an issue or attitude) that distinguishes the art of that nation from that of others? That makes it particular? Are there specific contexts that it responds to? Or do you think that art is a universal language that goes beyond social, political or geographic boundaries?
\n\n\n\nASF I think that art is a universal language. But thinking about this place and the people here, the Icelandic attitude can perhaps approach matters in unconventional ways. We are a small nation, so the process of making things into reality is shorter than in other places. Most people here tend to think that things are just possible.
\n\n\n\nAR What, other than art, are you looking forward to seeing – or doing – while you are in Venice?
\n\n\n\nASF I am looking forward to seeing the island of ghosts, the snail spiral stairs and the towers. We have very few towers in Iceland. I am looking forward to having a coffee and writing poetry and talking to people. I am so much looking forward to trying to speak Italian.
\n\n\n\nAR Could you give us a brief overview of your average working day while creating your presentation in Venice?
\n\n\n\nASF I don’t think I can have a brief overview of an average working day, all my days are so extremely different. Yesterday I stayed in the mountains filming snow and looking at ravens, today I went to bathe my sculptures in a bucket. But I have to say this process has had way too many meetings. I’ve had the amount of meetings I need for a lifetime.
\n\n\n\nAR Can art really change the world?
ASF People can change the world, art can be the reminder of that possibility or a spark that gets you going. Even the greatest fires only need just one little spark.
The 61st Venice Biennale runs 9 May through 22 November 2026
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Ásta Fanney Sigurdardottir is representing Iceland; the pavilion is in the Docks Cantieri Cucchini. 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