The book Norðanvindur (North wind) is the library’s highlligt in August, in celebration of the Nordic bookbinding exhibition Nordic Nature, which closes at the end of the month.
The exhibition Nordic Bookbinding is a collaborative project of Nordic art bookbinders. In 2009, the exhibition was for the first time in the hands of Icelanders. It was set up in the Culture House in Reykjavík, but it then traveled throughout the Nordic countries. The JAM group, which is a social organization of Icelandic bookbinders, took on the responsibility of organizing the exhibition on behalf of Iceland. The group came up with the idea of having a book printed with Nordic poems by living poets, and each participant in the project received one such book to bind. It was decided to choose five Icelandic poets and two from each of the other Nordic countries, including the Faroe Islands, as well as two poets from the Sami people and one Finnish poet due to the bilingualism in that country. The JAM group decided that five poems should be chosen from each poet. In total, there were eighteen poets and ninety poems. Birna Geirfinnsdóttir, Gunnar Þór Vilhjálmsson and Hörður Lárusson illustrated the book. Valdimar Tómasson was the editior, Svanur Jóhannesson was in charge of compiling the poets’ biographies and project management. The chairman of the JAM group was Ragnar Gylfi Einarsson. The book Norðanvindur was published in 2008.
Among the participants in the 2009 exhibition who bound the book Norðanvindur was Nína Gudmundsdóttir. Nína used unconventional materials for the panels, with fish skin and glass being prominent. The book can be viewed in the Bookbindery Collection in the Icelandic National Collection in the library. It has become increasingly common for books to be mixed with traditional bookbinding at bookbinding exhibitions.
The JAM group has been organizing Nordic bookbinding exhibitions in the library during recent years. The Nordic exhibition has been in Iceland about every fifth year, and since 2014 it has been at the National Library.
The Nordic bookbinding exhibition Nordic Nature is on at the library until end of August.
