Wild Reindeer of Iceland

Do you know very much about reindeer?

I knew about Santa’s reindeer!

I have seen reindeer in Northern Sweden…but they are herded/farmed even though they roam freely. Are they wild reindeer?

I knew about elk in Canada…but are they in the same family as Iceland’s reindeer?

Perhaps a visit to the special exhibition “Wild Reindeer of Iceland” will answer these questions. Let’s head off to Harpa (Reykjavik’s unique convention and conference centre) where the exhibition is.

(Harpa is the dark building in the centre of the photo. See a close up picture of the “anything but dark” interior by having a look at our tour of Reykjavik. Click here.)

Look, there is the sign. We are in the right place.

Hint: click on any photo to enlarge it.

The displays are top-notch…well laid out, multilingual, and most of all informative.

Hint: Remember , you can click on any photo to actually read the words.

Some information boards are accompanied by artifacts.

High quality interactive displays are found throughout the exhibition. They totally captivated my interest…both from a technology point of view and a learning tool point of view.

(So captivating that I forgot to take a photo of one of the interactive displays!)

In Iceland, literature and art are never far away so it was not a surprise to see art integrated into this fact-based exhibition. It was promoted as “Art and Culture meet Nature”

The Reindeer Parade (of life size fiber glass reindeer) wove its way throughout the exhibition. Local artists had been invited to paint the reindeer in any way they wished. Beside each “reindeer” was a large display card telling the story behind the painting. Some artists were inspired by local legends, some by nature, some by their own creative juices. Whatever the inspiration the reindeer parade was captivating.

This one is a bit “tamer” in colour… but not traditional in subject matter.

And then there was…

My goodness, that is the real thing!

 

Want to enjoy more Icelandic sites with us?

Start with a visit to a special kirk…Hallgrimskirkja. Click here.

or to pick your own place to start, click here.

OR

Want to travel to other parts of the world? Click here.