Welcome to a musical performance by Páll Ragnar Pálsson and Tui Hirv within the retrospective exhibition of Valgerður Briem on Wednesday, 14 October, from 12:15 to 13:00.
Free admission. Everyone is welcome.
Guitarist and composer Páll Ragnar Pálsson and singer and musicologist Tui Hirv grew up in very different worlds. He was immersed in the Icelandic rock scene, with all the freedom and playfulness that came with it, while she was shaped by Estonia’s rigorous academic education system and strong choral tradition. Their paths crossed at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, and since then they have collaborated on artistic projects, with Tui performing Páll’s compositions both in Iceland and abroad.
The songs that Tui and Páll Ragnar will perform at the concert are drawn from their forthcoming album, Layers, which will be released by Sono Luminus on 23 October. The album features arrangements by Tui and Páll of traditional sacred folk songs, most of them from Estonia, but also from the Nordic countries and the British Isles. These songs have been sung for centuries and have evolved through generations of performers and changing circumstances. The album’s title, Layers, refers both to the origins of the songs and to the many different lives they have taken on over time.
Valgerður often utilised layers in her art practice, adding one layer on top of another, allowing the process itself to guide the outcome. Páll and Tui create their music in a similar way with the album title Layers inspired by that approach. The album cover features an image of a work from Landlit, a series by Valgerður Briem.
