Undir / Under: Bringing the Deep Sea into the Exhibition Space
At the Húsavík Whale Museum in North Iceland, an exhibition developed in connection with the EXTREMES project brings art and marine science together to explore how we understand and relate to the Earth.
What does it mean to study an environment that is difficult to access and still only partly understood? And how might we approach scientific research not only through data, but also through sound, images and our senses?
These questions are at the heart of Undir / Under, an exhibition presented in three rooms at the Húsavík Whale Museum in North Iceland. Developed in connection with the interdisciplinary research project EXTREMES, the exhibition invites visitors to encounter extreme marine environments through a combination of scientific material and artistic expression.
Where art meets marine research
The exhibition introduces visitors to scientific exploration of the seabed in the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea. These marine environments are shaped by geological and other natural processes that challenge our understanding of the world beneath the ocean surface.
Rather than presenting research solely through scientific explanations and data, Undir / Under explores how these environments might also be experienced and imagined. Images, sound and singing bring the forces of the deep sea into the museum, creating an encounter with places that most visitors will never experience directly.
Through this combination of artistic and scientific approaches, the exhibition opens up different ways to engage with the environments under investigation. It asks how we might listen to, sense and respond to the Earth, rather than treating it only as an object of study.
Can the Earth shape how we do research?
A central question running through the exhibition is whether scientific imagination can extend beyond the production of data for public and industrial use. Could the Earth itself become a more active part of the research process, influencing not only what we investigate, but also how we investigate and understand it?
These questions take on particular significance in a period of climatic instability, when the relationships between human activity, natural processes and the environments we inhabit are increasingly difficult to ignore.
By bringing artistic practices into conversation with marine science, Undir / Under creates space to approach these relationships from different perspectives. The exhibition does not offer simple answers. Instead, it invites visitors to reconsider their own ways of seeing, listening to and relating to the natural world.
Figure 1. Preparing Undir / Under at the Húsavík Whale Museum, Iceland. Details from the exhibition. Photo: John Grzinich.
An unexpected encounter for visitors
The Húsavík Whale Museum provides a fitting setting for this exploration. The museum offers visitors insight into whale biology and behaviour, conservation efforts and the history of whaling in Iceland, while also addressing the impacts of climate change.
Within this context, Undir / Under offers a different way of encountering the marine environment. Its emphasis on artistic expression and sensory experience complements the museum's permanent exhibitions, offering a new way to engage with marine research.
Feedback from visitors on the exhibition's opening day suggested the works affected them emotionally in ways they had not expected. This response points to the potential of art and science working together: not only to communicate knowledge, but also to create experiences that encourage reflection and new questions.
Figure 4. Visitors gather for the opening of Undir / Under at the Húsavík Whale Museum on 3 October 2026. Photo: John Grzinich.
Visit the exhibition: Húsavík Whale Museum – Undir / Under
Explore the exhibition catalogue here: https://www.hvalasafn.is/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/undir-under-catalogue-online.pdf