Sara Kramer

Norröna Voyage
Commisioned for the group exhibition Inclusive Nation
Curated by Jonatan Habib Engqvist
Gerðarsafn – Kópavogur Art Museum
Iceland, November 2018 – January 2019

The video work Norröna Voyage (HD video & 3D animation, 11:33 min, 2018) explores the notion that, at the turn of the 16th century, nearly all silver goods in Iceland were sent to Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen to be melted down and used for casting the three life-size silver lions that still stand in the castle’s iconic “Knights Hall.”

In the video, these silver lions make a symbolic return to Iceland during the centenary of Icelandic sovereignty. Aware of the impossibility of this literal return, Kramer retraced the Danish colonizers’ route from Iceland to Denmark in 2017. She began in Copenhagen, crossed the North Atlantic aboard the Norröna Ferry, and traveled through Icelandic landscapes, documenting her journey extensively.

The film constructs a fictional narrative where the sculptures gain agency as animated beings and return to Iceland. This imaginative scenario emphasizes the need to envision alternative utopian possibilities.