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Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the role of the curator concerning the exhibition The Laxá Conflict. The exhibition deals with nature conservation and a small community and raises curatorial challenges. The paper examines the road to curatorial solutions while being respectful towards the local community.

Paper long abstract:

This December the exhibition The Laxá conflict: The Morning Glow of Environmentalism in Iceland opened in the Cultural Centre in Húsavík. In this exhibition the story of a community fighting for the conservation of the river Laxá is told.

In 1969 the electricity company Laxárvirkjun officially announced its plans to enlarge its hydropower station in the valley Aðaldalur. The project would change the river Laxá and its natural environment greatly. The people living on the banks of Laxá and Lake Mývatn fought from the start against the plans and the feud continued until 1973. The conflict took place on multiple levels; in court proceedings, on the pages of newspapers, in petitions and finally with the first known case of environmental activism in Iceland that led to a court trial and judgment.

As a person that grew up on the banks of the river Laxá and the curator and designer of the exhibition the process of telling this story held many challenges and moral questions.

In this paper I explain the viewpoint of the hosting institution (The Culture Centre in Húsavík), my own approach as the curator of the exhibition and show how archival material, natural and cultural objects from the museum’s collections were used to tell a history of a fight about nature. It’s a story about complex feelings in the shadow of the Anthropocene. Love story in the age of Man.