Museum Exhibit Chronicles Bathing Culture in Iceland

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All photos courtesy Vigfรบs Birgisson

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Dsf2550A special exhibit at the Museum of Design and Applied Art in Reykjavรญk outlines the history of Icelandโ€™s public pools.

Curated by product designer Brynhildur Pรกlsdรณttir and Iceland University ethnology professor Valdimar T. Hafstein, โ€œBathing Cultureโ€ is part of the annual DesignMarch festival.

โ€œThe most important public good in Iceland is the hot water bubbling out of the ground. Our most interesting public spaces are our pools,โ€ says Sigridur Sigurjonsdottir, museum director. โ€œIt is here that friends and strangers meet, here that society reveals itself โ€” in swimsuits.โ€

The exhibition features three distinct sections, each covering a different era in time: โ€œLearn,โ€ โ€œPlayโ€ and โ€œEnjoy.โ€

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โ€œLearnโ€ is focused on the surge of public pools built in Iceland around the turn of the 20th century. At the time, less than a percent of the nationโ€™s people knew how to swim, and many drowned each year.

โ€œIn the first half of the 20th century, pools were educational institutions,โ€ says a statement by the museum. โ€œIn addition to learning how to swim, people learned new customs: codes of conduct for a modern society took shape in the pools, accompanied by a new relationship to the body which emphasized hygiene and health.โ€

Next came the era of โ€œPlay.โ€ In the latter half of the 20th century, the public pool became more than just a place to learn how to swim: It was a place to have fun. Hot tubs, steam baths and wading pools became integral features in pool designs.

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โ€œThe hot tub instantly became a community center, and converted the pools into a public sphere that had been missing in Icelandic towns: a place where strangers and acquaintances cross paths,โ€ the museum says.

The exhibit concludes with the โ€œEnjoyโ€ era, in the 21st century. Today, Icelandโ€™s public pools function as community centers, playgrounds, training facilities and spas.

โ€œPool culture is increasingly characterized by a spa sensitivity that prizes relaxation, comfort and luxury above all else. In addition to learning and playing, the operative verb is now to enjoy: enjoy the water, enjoy the bodily sensation, enjoy the company,โ€ the museum says. โ€œThe emphasis everywhere is on design and experience.โ€

โ€œBathing Cultureโ€ is open to the public through the end of September. 

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