The exhibition is formally over. Jón Rúnar and I were both participating in our first photo exhibition, and we can easily say that we are happy with the results.
The night before the exhibition, my wife, my son, and my nephew joined me in taking little slips to every house in town (which are not that many), and even a few of the nearby farms, where we invited everyone to come to the opening the following evening.
Most of Thursday went into exhibition preparation; hanging the pictures on the wall, printing and laminating information tags, printing and folding the program, and such and such. We ran home to grab some dinner and have a change of clothes, and then we were back at school (where the exhibition was held) just after seven thirty.
At just a few minutes to eight, the first guests arrived. It started out fairly relaxed and easy, but before we knew it, the exhibition area was filled with people. At around quarter past eight, Alexandra Chernyshova, Jón’s wife, sang a couple of songs, as we welcomed our guests.
Apparently, it is customary at openings such as this to offer wine, be it sparkling, red, or white, but we decided to break that tradition and offer coffee and homemade “kleinur” (made by my grandmother), and I couldn’t tell other than it was well appreciated.
The exhibition was extremely well received, and it was clear from the start that our decision to only include photos taken in or around Hofsós, was a hit. Not everyone wrote their name in the guestbook, since a big line formed early on and there was no reason for people to sign as they came inside, but at the end of the night, we counted 103 names in the book. In a village of around 170 people, I’d say that’s quite good.
Friday was on the slow side, which gave us good time to chat with the people that did show up.
Saturday started slowly as well, since we opened at 11 AM, but just after lunchtime we saw more and more people. When we closed that night, we counted 351 new names in the guestbook. That weekend saw a festival and two big family reunions, so we sure picked the right weekend for the exhibition.
In total, we saw 514 names in the guestbook, and quite a lot of people visited us more than once – without writing their names again 🙂
Sunday was quiet, and when we closed the exhibition, we cleaned the premises and delivered the photos which had been bought. It was late Sunday evening, that we (me, my wife , and our son) drove back home, and it was truly strange driving away from Hofsós, knowing that we would come back for at least a year and a half, perhaps even longer.
But I would like to thank all of you, who came by, and to the rest of you: See you next time – whenever that will be.
Until then you can view the photos from the exhibition at hofsos2009.gunnarfreyr.com.