2022 marks the 250th anniversary of Swedish botanist Daniel Solander’s scientific expedition to Iceland. To commemorate his expedition, the Swedish Embassy has teamed up with its Icelandic partners to organize sailing trips, art exhibitions, workshops, nature walks and more in more than 30 locations in Iceland over the next 18 months. I planned another project. .
“Both Iceland and Sweden continue a dialogue over centuries of history, biology, geology, anthropology and culture. This project deals with our common past, present and future. “We are very grateful to the Government of Iceland and our over 30 Icelandic partners for their extremely generous support for our most comprehensive Swedish-Icelandic project to date.”
Daniel Solander (1733-1782) was a Swedish naturalist who studied under Carl Linnaeus, a prominent professor of botany. He traveled to Australia and New Zealand on scientific expeditions and helped create and describe collections of plants from different regions.
Solander visited Iceland in 1772. Icelandic letterswas first published in 1777 and is available in full on the website of the National Library of Iceland.
Icelandic artist interprets Solander’s expedition
One of the cornerstones of the commemorative project is the art exhibition Solander 250: Bréf frá Íslandi (e. Solander 250: Letters from Iceland) features the work of ten Icelandic artists who contribute to the perspective of Daniel Solander’s Icelandic expedition. The exhibition opens on August 27th at his Hafnarborg gallery in the town of Hafnarfjörður, but will move to his nine other locations in Iceland over the next 18 months.
exhibition Paradise Lost – The Legacy of Daniel Solanderwill be exhibited across Iceland, first in New Zealand and Australia in 2019-2021, focusing on the first meeting of Sweden and the Pacific Bref Fra Islandi.
Other events that will be part of the commemoration include musical performances and educational events.
The voyage from Sweden to Iceland to mark the 250th anniversary of scientific exploration was first published in the Iceland Review.
