Winter Nights: Norway, Greece and Iceland Meet in a New Athens Exhibition

Winter Nights opens at Living Room in Athens on Thursday, 17 September 2026, from 19:00 to 22:00. Curated by Eleni Riga, the international exhibition brings together Norwegian, Greek and Icelandic artists to explore seasonal rituals, animist worldviews and ecological memory.

Through the meeting of Nordic and Southern animisms, the exhibition reflects on climate change and ecological grief. Its Athens presentation considers cyclical time, seasonal transformation and our relationship with nature, drawing on traditions and knowledge shaped by humanity’s repeated encounters with ecological crises.

The ritual behind Winter Nights

The exhibition takes its title from Vetrnætr, the pre-Christian Nordic ritual marking the transition into winter. Traditionally held after the harvest, the gathering offered a final opportunity for communal exchange before the arrival of darkness and cold.

It served both practical and spiritual purposes, strengthening social bonds and solidarity while acknowledging relationships with the land, ancestors and other-than-human forces. These connections provide a starting point for the exhibition’s consideration of seasonal change and ecological memory.

From Oslo to Athens

Winter Nights was first presented at BO, the Association of Visual Artists Oslo, and at Femidomen in September–October 2025, with the support of Arts and Culture Norway and the Norwegian Embassy in Athens.

A year later, its presentation at Living Room expands beyond winter itself to examine the cycles through which people experience time and nature. It asks what traditions and forms of knowledge shaped by earlier ecological crises might offer today.

Participating artists

Curated by Eleni Riga and produced by A-DASH, the exhibition features works by:

• Marthe A Andersen
• Tasos Gkaintatzis
• Úna Hamilton Helle
• Miriam Hansen
• Eva Ísleifs
• Maria Nikiforaki
• Viktor Pedersen
• Sarah Sikorie
• Elektra Stampoulou
• Simon Daniel Tegnander Wenzel

Support and the next chapter

Winter Nights is supported by Creative Greece, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, OCA (Office of Contemporary Art Norway), the Norwegian Embassy in Athens, Icelandic Art Center, the Embassy of Iceland in Copenhagen and Transeuropa Festival.

Research for the next chapter in Iceland has already begun through a trip by Eleni Riga and Eva Ísleifs, in collaboration with A-DASH, supported by Culture Moves Europe and the Fjarðabyggð Cultural Center.

Plan your visit

Venue: Living Room, 71 Marathonos Street, 104 35, Athens.
Opening: Thursday, 17 September 2026, 19:00–22:00.
Exhibition dates: 17 September–10 October 2026.
Visiting hours: Thursday and Friday, 18:00–21:00. Saturday, 13:00–18:00, or by appointment.

On Saturday, 10 October, the exhibition will remain open until 21:00, with a curatorial tour at 20:00.

Source: Living Room Athens.