One of the most extensive design exhibitions ever held in Iceland will take place at the Reykjavík Arts Festival this spring. The exhibition, entitled Kvika, will open at Kjarvalsstadir on 19 May. At a press conference held today, it was announced that the Reykjavík Art Museum and Straumur-Burdarás Investment Bank have concluded a collaboration agreement concerning the exhibition, which is also sponsored by the Icelandic Ministry of Industry and Commerce. According to designer Gudrún Lilja Gunnlaugsdóttir, curator of Kvika, some 50-70 designers will participate. The selection of participants has yet to be finalised. The exhibition will focus on contemporary Icelandic design and will include all types of design, such as furniture, clothing, lighting, jewellery, architecture, weaving, technological innovation, and food. Five designers will also present innovative projects created especially for Kvika. According to curator Gudrún Lilja, the five designers are Ninna Thórarinsdóttir, who has designed a dress for the exhibition; Páll Einarsson, who will present a work entitled Straumrof [Short Circuit]; Sigrídur Heimisdóttir, who has designed a lamp entitled Nordurljós [Northern Lights], Unnur Fridriksdóttir, who has designed handbags for Kvika; and Thóra Árnadóttir, who has designed a radiator that will function as a sort of vascular system for a building. A book on contemporary Icelandic design will be published simultaneously with the exhibition, and an educational and lecture programme will be presented for the duration of the show. Hafthór Yngvason, director of the Reykjavík Art Museum, refers to Kvika as a collaborative project and says that it proves once again that when people work together toward a common goal the results are self-evident, not least when the collaborators are from various parts of society. "Here we have art and industry, private corporations and government agencies. And it is design that brings us all together. Design touches us all, no matter who we are or where we are. We can all unite around the importance of design and the importance of having a society that is creative. The Reykjavík Art Museum values design as a field of art, and we are proud to house this exhibition, not least at the Reykjavík Arts Festival, with which it is always an honour to be associated," said Hafthór at a press conference announcing the exhibition. Fridrik Jóhannsson, CEO of Straumur-Burdarás Investment Bank, said at the press conference that it was the Bank's pleasure to participate in Kvika. "In a modern way, this show takes the pulse of the best that contemporary Icelandic design has to offer. It examines the unique position of Icelandic design in an ideological and material context and allows the bubbling turbulence of creative power to well up to the surface," said Fridrik.