The first Reykjavík Arts Festival dedicated to visual arts opens on May 14th and 15th 2005. A major Dieter Roth exhibition in his adopted homeland will take place in two of Iceland’s largest museums: The National Gallery of Iceland and Reykjavik Art Museum, as well as in Gallery 100°. Curator is Björn Roth. Roth’s work provides the thematic inspiration for the Festival’s exhibition. The exhibition’s title, Material Time/Work Time/Life Time, brings together both Roth’s contemporaries and a recent generation whose work could be said to reflect the artist’s interest in collapsing the boundaries between art, life, and materiality. Over twenty venues and sites have come together to work as one for the first time. Encompassing Reykjavik itself and the surrounding communities, as well as the major Icelandic towns and outdoor locations, the exhibition will introduce the work of approximately 30 international artists from Iceland, Puerto Rico, Canada, Albania, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Bosnia Herzegovína, US and Mexico, to name a few, with works created specifically for this exhibition. The exhibitions in Reykjavík and its surrounding communities will open on 14th and 15th. Curator for this part of Reykjavík Arts Festival is Jessica Morgan of Tate Modern in London. Events: On the opening weekend, Reykjavík Arts Festival features the execptional Throat-Singers of Tuva; Huun Huur Tu. Other highlights: The great viola player Yuri Bashmet performs with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. The world famous mezzo soprano, Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg, piano, give a concert. One of the world’s most proficient and lyrical circus, the “Cirque and the story of Auguste” from France, visits the Festival, Trans Dance Europe performs three separate projects from Finland, The Czech Republic and France as a part of a network of activities that take place between August 2003 and May 2006, the Japanese artists Stomu Yamashta works togehter with the Icelandic poet and musician; Sjón and vocalist Ragga Gísla, the French/Icelandic duo Lady & Bird; Keren Ann Zeidel and Barði, Portuguese Fado-singer Mariza with band, three concerts with Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir, the Principal Leader of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and number of other exciting events. The programme is not final and is subject to change.