Brynjar Sigurðarson
Photo María Arnarsdóttir

Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2018 to Icelandic designer Brynjar Sigurðarson

The Röhsska Museum's Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize Committee, with funding from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, has decided to award Brynjar Sigurðarson this year's prize of SEK 1 million.

The award committee's motivation

"Brynjar Sigurðarson's work is strongly rooted in two fundamental elements of Icelandic cultural heritage, namely the storytelling tradition and fishing. The authenticity of his work stems from his ability to connect the past and the present, where international influences and new opportunities have welcomed him. Brynjar's ability to collaborate with people from different disciplines such as fishermen, filmmakers, writers, musicians, archaeologists and craftsmen is a key factor in all his work. His curiosity and sincerity permeate his design projects, which can be described as a 'Nordic take' on design trends in Europe."

- "Receiving the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize is an incredibly meaningful recognition for me, to get this kind of acknowledgement is really unique. I take it as an encouragement to continue with what I'm doing," says Brynjar Sigurðarson. "In many ways the award has a crucial role in how it helps me to take my practice forward further, to build our studio and develop more exciting projects.

The prize was awarded in connection with a ceremony on November 4, 2018. An exhibition about and with the winner Brynjar Sigurðarson was shown in connection with the reopening of the Röhsska Museum in February 2019.

Brynjar Sigurðarson
Brynjar Sigurðarson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, and works as a designer and artist. Currently he lives and works in Auriol, in the south of France and since 2015 he runs a German-Icelandic design studio together with designer Veronika Sedlmair. Sigurðarson studied product design with a bachelor's degree at (the) Icelandic Academy of the Arts and a master's degree at ECAL in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Since 2011, Sigurðarson's practice has often been based on narrative and performance where design is not only an end product but also a tool for creation. His projects are often related to anthropology and geology and he uses several different media and expressions such as illustrations, photography, video, sound and objects to perform the works in a rewarding and specific way.

Studio Brynjar & Veronika