Publication on Contemporary art 2024

The Visual Arts Council’s Publication Award goes to Art Can Heal: The Life and Work of Sigríður Björnsdóttir. The book is about Sigríður Björnsdóttir, an artist and innovator in the field of art therapy, being mainly written by teacher and artist Ágústa Oddsdóttir, who has studied Sigríður’s extensive career for many years. The book is 270 pages long and is skillfully edited. Multiple photographs adorn the publication: of Sigríður in her daily life and work, of her clients’ drawings and other illustrations. Among them are drawings by the author Ágústa Oddsdóttir, who provides readers with an intriguing insight into her long-term collaboration and dialogue with Sigríður.

The book features Sigríður’s's accounts of her ideology, her collaboration with hospitals, and the research platforms she was involved with as a founder or committee member. The book is largely based on recent interviews with Sigríður. She gives a detailed account of her significant entrepreneurial work as an art therapist and discusses the power of art and her involvement with other artists during her career. In one part of the book, she speaks about, among others, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Dieter Roth, but they were married around the middle of the century and lived together in Iceland with their children.

The jury finds that the book offers invaluable insight into the remarkable life and work of an influential innovator in the field of art therapy. At the same time, it is an essential overview of Sigríður’s artistic practice, approach and philosophy.

Editor: Abigail Ley

Author: Ágústa Oddsdóttir

Publishing co-ordination: Egill Sæbjörnsson

Interviews: Hans Ulrich Obrist et al.

Design: Studio Studio (Arnar Freyr Guðmundsson, Birna Geirfinnsdóttir)

Publisher: Verlag der Büchhandlung Walther König, Köln