The Theatre Museum of Iceland

The Theatre Museum of Iceland was formally founded on the 9th of March 2003, on the 170th birthday of the painter Sigurdur Gudmunsson, a pioneer of the country’s modern theatre practices.

Originally, the goal was to open a physical museum, but funding was scarce and difficult to obtain. Started as a volunteer effort, the members managed to collect and save priceless artifacts over the years. When it became clear that the organisation was not viable long-term, and the physical museum became an unreachable dream new solutions were needed. After a negotiation with the Ministry of Education and Culture, The National Museum of Iceland and the National and University Library of Iceland it was decided to formally dismantle the organisation and separate the artifacts between the two institutions. Additionally, the Theatre Museum would reopen as a specialist archive within the National and University Library and funding secured to hire a single performing arts specialist to oversee the collection. In March 2019 the Theatre Museum was dismantled and in January 2021 Sigríður Jónsdóttir began working for the institution in its new form.

The Theatre Museum of Iceland’s mission is to preserve and promote the country’s theatre history, with a special focus on digitising artifacts and serve as a research centre for students and scholars.  


The Theatre Museum of Iceland

Arngrímsgata 3
107 Reykjavik Iceland
leikminjasafn@landsbokasafn.is
https://leikminjasafn.is/english


Contacts:

Sigríður Jónsdóttir, Theatre Specialist
Tel: +354 525 5673
sigridur.jonsdottir@landsbokasafn.is

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