Vestur í bláinn

’Vestur í bláinn’ was a multidisciplinary music and art project on immigration in Iceland. It aimed to be a space for voices, different languages and stories of people from diverse origins. 

Julius Pollux started ‘Vestur í bláinn’ as an experimental music project, which combines voices of immigrants and refugees in Iceland with his own musical take on the subject.
Claire Paugam and Julius Pollux then teamed up to expand the project into an art exhibition and elevate political concerns within a poetic perspective, encouraging a humanistic and empathetic look on people’s stories, situations, emotions and backgrounds.

Local artists were invited to engage in a dialogue with the music pieces by creating the ten artworks that were presented in this exhibition.
The exhibition took place in ten public locations in Reykjavík from September 3rd to September 30th 2020.

Thank you for your curiosity, thank you for listening.

Claire Paugam & Julius Pollux Rothlaender (curators)

Participating artists:
Úa Von, Hugo Llanes, Melanie Ubaldo, Bára Bjarnadóttir, Ewa Marcinek, Eva Bjarnadóttir, Claire Paugam, Julius Pollux Rothlaender

Locations of the exhibition:
Hlemmur, Nýlistasafnið, Harpa, Mjódd, Vesturbæjarlaug, Borgarbókasafnið Gerðubergi, Listasafn Reykjavíkur, Andrými, Kaffi Laugalækur, Ráðhúsið


The exhibition was supported by Myndlistarsjóður and Myndstef


Video tour of the exhibition:


Video by Patrik Ontkovic







Vestur í bláinn started as a music project by Julius Pollux



Release date: September 1st, 2020

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All proceedings from sales on bandcamp will be donated to No Borders Iceland.
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All music written, recorded and produced by Julius Pollux Rothlaender
Mixed by Greg Giorgio
Artwork by Claire Paugam


Additional musicians:
Ægir Sindri Bjarnason, drums & percussion (#1, 6, 7, 10, 12)
Sigurlaug Thorarensen, vocals (#3, 6, 7, 9, 11)
Tumi Árnason, saxophone (#3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Maja Gravermoen Toresen, violin (#6, 7, 9, 10, 12)
Martijn Eikenhout, double bass / guitar (#4, 7, 8)
Eugénie Ricard, bassoon (#1, 9)
Alison MacNeil, voice (#5, 12)
Óli Kondrup, trumpet (#1)
Rakel Sigurðardóttir, violin (#1)
Brynja Bjarnadóttir, vocals (#3)
Asker Bjørk, drums (#3)
Peter Broderick, vocals (#4)
Hannah Epperson, vocals & violin (#4)
Maria-Carmela Raso, vocals (#4)
Mink Steekelenburg, synths (#7)
Bjarni Daníel, vocals (#7)
Dušan Ðurović, guitar (#8)
Afra Kane, vocals (#9)
Finnbogi Örn Einarsson, vocals (#11)
Sóley Stefánsdóttir, vocals (#12)
Moses Destiny, vocals (#12)







On invitation of the Reykjavík Arts Festival and as a final celebration of the project and the voices that it features, Julius Pollux invited a group of friends and musicians to perform the music pieces of Vestur í bláinn as a live concert together. Due to new Covid-19 restrictions in Iceland, the live concert had to be cancelled last minute and was recorded on video instead.

Musicians: Sigurlaug Thorarensen - vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass Maria-Carmela Raso - vocals, keyboards 
Rakel Sigurðardóttir - violin, keyboards 
Ægir Sindri Bjarnason - drums, percussion 
Tumi Árnason - saxophone, clarinet 
Dušan Ðurović - guitar, bass 
Bjarni Daníel Þorvaldsson - vocals 
Julius Pollux - keyboards, sampler, guitar, bassLive
Sound & Recording: Nikulás Yamamoto Barkarson
Mix & Master: Julius Pollux
Video by Patrik Ontkovic

Special Thanks: Reykjavík Arts Festival, Ása Dýradóttir, Árni Hjörvar Árnason, Abbas Ali, Claire Paugam & all voices, musicians and artists that participated in Vestur í bláinn