The National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavik is presenting a major new Björk exhibition that seeks to do what museums have struggled to achieve before: meaningfully capture the artist’s immersive, highly conceptual world. Titled “Echolalia” and “Metamorphlings,” the twin shows run from May 31 to September 20 and fill the museum with works connected to Björk and her longtime collaborator and co-creative director James Merry. The exhibition arrives after earlier attempts to frame Björk in a museum setting were criticized as underwhelming and ill-suited to the scale of her work.
The new presentation reflects how much Björk’s practice has expanded in recent years. Since her 2015 museum retrospective, she has released two ambitious albums, mounted the live project Cornucopia, staged an immersive VR exhibition in London, and collaborated with Rosalía on “Berghain,” a dramatic track from Lux. Her output continues to move between pop, performance, technology, and art, making her an increasingly complex figure for institutions to interpret.
Curator Pari Stave says the exhibition is built around the shared interests of Björk and Merry, especially their fascination with Icelandic nature, technological experimentation, and material form. Their collaboration began in 2009 during the Biophilia era, when Merry helped translate Björk’s song-by-song visual ideas into physical headpieces and masks. Over time, he created some of her most recognizable images, including the red latex mask associated with Vulnicura, as well as sculptural accessories for fashion projects such as Iris van Herpen’s Earthrise collection.
A major feature of the exhibition is its sensory, theatrical installation design. One section devoted to “Sorrowful Soil,” a song from Björk’s 2022 album Fossora, places visitors inside a room where the singer appears against black lava fields as Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano erupts. Surrounding speakers isolate and then recombine the voices of the Hamrahlíð choir, allowing visitors to experience the music both as a whole and as individual strands. The effect reinforces Björk’s interest in sound as an environment rather than a simple performance.
The exhibition also includes “Nerve Bloom,” a new Björk piece created with Natalia Kleszczewska and Natalie Liu. Björk describes her role as creative director, shaping color palettes, textures, and the surrounding atmosphere while keeping the work rooted in songwriting. Merry, meanwhile, has contributed new masks inspired by transformation, archaeology, and La Tène-era hybrid forms, continuing his long engagement with metamorphosis and the human face.
Together, the shows aim to present Iceland not simply as a backdrop but as a living source of creative energy. The museum hopes the exhibition will attract international visitors while also giving local audiences a compelling reason to return. One of the most notable events will take place on August 12, when Björk hosts a one-day solar eclipse rave, Echolalia, featuring DJ sets and performances by Arca, Ronja, and others. The event will culminate in darkness as the moon covers the sun, turning the exhibition into a rare public ritual that blends music, spectacle, and place.
