Fiona Byrne; Glowing Glacier, Iceland; Culture Moves Europe
- Cineál Tionscadail
- Visual Art (glass)
- Teideal
- Fiona Byrne; Glowing Glacier, Iceland; Culture Moves Europe
- Funding Strand
- Culture Moves Europe
The artist attended Glowing Glacier Festival research meetings to lay the groundwork for a festival called Glowing Glacier which will take place in Hellissandur, Iceland in July 2026.
Funded by Culture Moves Europe, Laura Sonne (DK), Fiona Byrne (IRE) & Louise Lang (DE) traveled to Snæfellsbær in West Iceland in March 2025.
There they met the local Cultural Development team, artists, curators and experienced the raw Icelandic landscape.
Culture Moves Europe funding enabled them to spend ten days laying the groundwork for a festival called Glowing Glacier which will take place in Hellissandur in July 2026.
Throughout the mobility they had meetings, site visits, inspiring conversations, and conducted creative research that helped them to visualise this ambitious project.
They learned more about Icelandic culture and working styles, as well as gathering vital artistic research for our future exhibitions at the festival.
About the Artist
Fiona Byrne is a project based maker and visual artist. She trained at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and has a joint degree in glass and visual culture. She has been awarded funding from Culture Moves Europe, Arts Council of Ireland, the Thomas Dammann Junior Memorial Trust Awards and BLICKE Kultur Stadt Bern. She has exhibited internationally including showing her work in Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, France and the UK.
'I have long believed that glass, as a material, resonates deeply with place. In Iceland, that resonance is volcanic and glacial, fiery and oceanic. Guided by our Culture Moves Europe partner, curator Bjarni Sigursbjörnsson, we explored landscapes, venues, and communities that shaped the early vision for our festival. The opportunity to show up in person allowed us to form genuine, lasting connections, something only possible with Culture Moves Europe support, as time and cost would otherwise have been beyond reach. The Glowing Glacier Festival will demonstrate the artistic potential of glass within this unique environment. It is also an opportunity to shape how my work is seen and understood. I am excited to collaborate with the community and develop an exhibition at the National Parks Centre. I hope it will serve as a springboard for future projects that push the material in new directions.’ Fiona ByrneAcross Borders - Across the Board (2023 - 2024)