Fagurferðir is a cultural collective dedicated to organizing artistic experiences, workshops, courses, and festivals that intertwine art, nature, and philosophy. It is a spiritual travel agency that develops, curates, and offers performative experiences that are at once aesthetic, contemplative, and therapeutic.

Fagurferðir specializes in both inner and outer journeys that foster a deeper connection between the traveler, their environment, and themselves—strengthening aesthetic sensitivity and promoting existential sustainability. The practice is rooted in methods that draw on the body’s wisdom and creative potential, emphasizing connection, relaxation, and openness.

The core members of Fagurferðir are:
Guðbjörg R. Jóhannesdóttir, environmental philosopher and associate professor at the Iceland University of the Arts. Hrefna Lind Lárusdóttir, yoga teacher, performance artist, and program director of the MA in Performing Arts at the Iceland University of the Arts. Steinunn H. Knúts Önnudóttir, performance maker and artistic researcher.

Guðbjörg’s research focuses on landscape and its aesthetic value, emphasizing the embodied knowledge and relationships that arise through aesthetic experience. She has studied the aesthetic value of diverse landscapes and terrains, both through the expert group 1 within the Icelandic Master Plan for Nature Protection and Energy Utilization, and the interdisciplinary project Landscape and Participation in Kjósarhreppur (2016), which she co-developed with a team of artists, designers, archaeologists, geographers, and anthropologists. Guðbjörg has also explored bodily critical thinking and participated in various artistic projects. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, she published the book Wow! Essays on the Aesthetics of Nature in 2020.

Hrefna Lind holds an MA in Performing Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts and a second MA in Contemporary Performance from the United States, where she encountered contemplative pedagogy. Over the past years, she has worked as a writer, performer, dramaturg, and artistic director in a range of projects. These include The Post Performance Blues Band, which has toured extensively in Europe; Krakkaveldið (“The Kids’ Reign”), a participatory piece where adults are invited into a world governed by children; Codapent, an artistic research project exploring placebo within creative spaces, presented at DesignMarch, Reykjavík Arts Festival, Ásmundarsalur, and Hamraborg Festival. She has also led The Human Cultivation Center, a project that helps city dwellers connect with their inner plant. Hrefna’s work often centers around creating unexpected experiences that offer the possibility of new perspectives and connections. As an artistic director, she has initiated creative workshops in prisons and led an international workshop in Eyrarbakki.

Steinunn works with sustainable performance methods, performative encounters, and participatory works that invite guests into experiences grounded in their relationship to their surroundings, their values, and the personal “luggage” they carry. With a long career in the performing arts, Steinunn has worked as a director, playwright, dramaturg, and performer in Iceland, the UK, USA, Scandinavia, and beyond. She has served as dramaturge at the Reykjavík City Theatre, dean of the Performing Arts Department at the Iceland University of the Arts, artistic director of the web theatre Room 408, and the Professional Amateurs Theatre Collective. She has also published several books on her artistic methods. A mother of three, potter, theologian, and forest bather, Steinunn holds a PhD in Performing Arts from Malmö Theatre Academy. Her doctoral research How Little Is Enough? explored sustainable methods of performance and the transformative potential of participatory performance.