echolalia - new exhibition premiering may 30th 2026

[arucinluv]

Björk and James Merry will take over all galleries of the National Gallery of Iceland during the Reykjavík Arts Festival, opening May 30th 2026.

echolalia focuses on Björk as the creative force behind multimedia projects she has
developed in collaboration with communities of musicians, artists, designers, dancers
filmmakers, and studio technicians. In three immersive installations, including Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil, the public is given a rare opportunity to engage intimately with works of phenomenal visual, aural, and emotional depth – the third is a new work based on music from her forthcoming album, currently in development.

James Merry’s exhibition comprises over 80 artworks and offers a window into the evolution of his artistic output over the past decade. The masks on view showcase Merry’s craftsmanship, which uniquely blends traditional techniques with contemporary, avant-garde expressions. Collectively, these works—the Metamorphlings—form a family of shape-shifting creations that offer insight into his unending fascination with the natural world, as well as his abiding interest in archeology and ancient ritual.

[judaschrist]

so, is echolalia the title of the new album?????

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

I don’t think they would use the name of the new album for an art installation that is 2/3 fossora songs—but obviously we can’t be sure until she announces the record. I wonder, though, if we can guess the theme of the new piece—like “ancestress” and “sorrowful soil”, is it also about björk’s mother or heritage? will it also have a video shot in Icelandic wilderness? will it be a vocal-heavy composition (apparently the “sorrowful soil” installation will feature separate speaker for each hamrahlíðarkórinn voice)? is it going to be the new album’s epic centerpiece (like “black lake”, “body memory“, “ancestress”)?

[arucinluv]

i think this is a reworked version of the 2022 scrapped exhibition in france

[Patrigan]

i think this is a reworked version of the 2022 scrapped exhibition in france

That could also mean the new music they talk about was from when fossora was still upcoming

[stupidfambaloo]

i thought this project sounded familiar. from variety earlier this year :

[arucinluv]

i thought this project sounded familiar. from variety earlier this year :

how did we missed that lol

[childwithlepro]

i have a hunch this is gonna be another angel (aurora) / solar system (cosmogony) instrumental sneak preview of a song from the new album at most.

[paganpoet]

debut
post
homogenic
vespertine
medúlla
volta
biophilia
vulnicura
utopia
fossora
echolalia

Just wanted to see how that looked.

I'm not mad about it, if that's where this is leading.

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

I don’t want the title to be Echolalia because it’s already the title of a (very good) Yves Tumor track so she better come up with something else

also wouldn’t mind a break from the -a titles, it’s been 20 years of these now and some of the have been ridiculous lol

[Anak]

She should really shake it up and give us a two word title i THINK SOME PEOPLE WOULD DIE

[ultramarine]

ranking the -a titles, from worst to best:

biophilia
vulnicura
utopia
fossora
volta
medúlla

I agree, time to shake things up a bit -- I'd go with some arcane adjective à la verspertine

[epicurus]

Or in icelandic, i would go for Ómun, with a reference to echolalia

[Inti]

Found this: https://www.side-line.com/bjork-new-alb ... tion-2026/

FB_IMG_1764919249256.jpg

[odduck]

cool find, but The photo url ends in "not-bjork-scaled.jpg"
I think it's AI since there are no photo credits.

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

ranking the -a titles, from worst to best:

biophilia
vulnicura
utopia
fossora
volta
medúlla

pretty much agree, for me:

volta, medúlla, fossora = actually great
biophilia, utopia = boring, cliched
vulnicura = absurdly bad

i would actually love a title with roots in icelandic rather than (faux-)latin

[meisbaer]

Echolalia is a very interesting condition, though. It has to do with having a compusive need to repeat sounds, words or even whole texts. Often found with people with a neurodivergence, but also in young children.

My boyfriend has some kind of Echolalia, he often quotes people (with the right accent and everything), or repeats sounds like a sirene. More funnily, he imitates a cartoon character that does a sirene impression.

[childwithlepro]

I think it is echolalia as in echoing things from the past, as a retrospective, which is what this exhibition basically will be (the work of James Merry and Björk over the past 10 years). With echolalia also being a medical condition and Hildur having dyslexia (the ultimate free form to invent words and add syllables according to Björk) and Sorrowful Soil being a song that uses choral repetition of words in its structure, it all kinda fits.

A triptych installation of family and roots pieces... sounds more like a continuation of the Fossora theme to me, rather than a new album concept.

[mostico]

She should really shake it up and give us a two word title i THINK SOME PEOPLE WOULD DIE

i would be one of those for sure!

[Apex]

ranking the -a titles, from worst to best:

biophilia
vulnicura
utopia
fossora
volta / medúlla

I agree, time to shake things up a bit -- I'd go with some arcane adjective à la verspertine

fixed it!

i would like to see an icelandic album name or something lovely vespertine-ish.

if the exhibition runs from may to september...may we see a september/october release?

[Patrigan]

ranking the -a titles, from worst to best:

biophilia
vulnicura
utopia
fossora
volta / medúlla

I agree, time to shake things up a bit -- I'd go with some arcane adjective à la verspertine

fixed it!

i would like to see an icelandic album name or something lovely vespertine-ish.

if the exhibition runs from may to september...may we see a september/october release?

I wish for July, that’s when I be in Iceland

But October would be okay-ish…

[childwithlepro]

so it seems the name of the new song is nerve bloom
the pic of the exhibition is kinda

[arucinluv]

why does it look like my profile picture...

[Patrigan]

Nerve Bloom ???

[digitalsky]

why does it look like my profile picture...

while we're on the subject, what exactly is it? it reminds me of her wired cover from 2011.

[felt.helmet]

Thzt s a strange poster… looks like a cheap fanart, I dont like it

[arucinluv]

why does it look like my profile picture...

while we're on the subject, what exactly is it? it reminds me of her wired cover from 2011.

https://x.com/mrbiophilia
( i wasn't mr. biophilia )

[arucinluv]

Thzt s a strange poster… looks like a cheap fanart, I dont like it

i have to say I'm not a fan either ... looks like a bjork.fr april fools prank

[chks]

I mean wtf is that poster lol

[tofu]

Kinda loving the poster.

[CU830]

the title and visual make me think of the fascia and blaschko masks miss birch has been wearing in the last couple of years, both translating the wavy designs hidden in and under the skin. Anatomical theme incoming with stress on sensory networks? Touch, feeling, connection?

[Robodurga]

That is looks really bad, NGL. Teenage emo art from the 2000s. I hope there's context.

[judaschrist]

is this "conscious" ai-art, maybe? I mean, art that purposely wants to like like ai?


I hope we soon get a few audio snippets from nerve bloom...

[ekkert]

Apparently it’s by a polish artist Natalia kleszczewska. Some of her other stuff has an interesting aesthetic

[Magnetar]

Apparently it’s by a polish artist Natalia kleszczewska. Some of her other stuff has an interesting aesthetic

That explains why it reminds me of 80's Polish movie posters and VHS cover art.

I'm excited we got a new song title and we know we will get at least 2 versions of it.

And if we're very lucky, a banging remix.

[ultramarine]

hot take: it's not worse than the cgi-reminiscent fossora cover

but waiting for our resident pole to offer us his take on a compatriot's art

[CU830]

maybe the image looks a little... drawn because it's a magnified detail of a much larger painting? looking at kleszczwska's work and it's all gorgeously glossy.

intriguing that b commissioned something analog and handmade after years of digital avatars.

[felt.helmet]

Or it’s hopefully an art sketch for a professionally rendered video ?

[digitalsky]

hot take: it's not worse than the cgi-reminiscent fossora cover

but waiting for our resident pole to offer us his take on a compatriot's art

me?

i love it, it's unfussy

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

the other resident pole thinks the poster looks like something found on deviantart in 2008—and I like some of the artist’s other works but this one has the vibe of bad fanart accompanying a fake tracklist, I fear. maybe it’s the crop or the red squiggles, idk

[Garnet in the Eden]

I GOT THE FANART/CHEAP COMPARISON UNTIL I ZOOMED IN AND INSPECTED THE IMAGE PROPERLY AND I THINK IT'S GREAT, REMINDS ME OF A PARTICULAR SCENE IN HBO'S CARNIVALE.

[dubstar]

there was a private event before the public opening at 6pm. björk attended the private event, she came about half an hour before the public opening. i didn’t see her then anymore.
there are three rooms:
ancestress: a dark room with a cinema size screen and a great sound. on the backside of the room are headpieces, the gong and other pieces of the video on display.
sorrowful soil: a room with many different speakers arranged in an oval shape and the video is projected on a wall. if you walk, you hear that each loudspeaker has different sound (choir, björk, single voices of the choir)
nerve bloom: another dark room with an animation projection on the wall, plus two glass screens showing animations as well, including the avatar of her which is shown outside the gallery. the song is about 5 minutes.

[CU830]

footage from the “nerve bloom” room is starting to circulate: the visuals are paintings by natalia kleszczewska in her signature style and animated by natalie liu. there’s something lo-fi about them, not quite analog not quite digital, like an old cartoon.

i don’t know if i trust my ears but the song is piano+harsh, laser-y beats, the ones by dj travella she played in Venice, in her usual walking pace tempo? and do i hear flutes too? it sounds kind of fleshed out to be just a demo.

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

half-expected this to be just an instrumental stem à la avignon or solar system song but yeah, it’s definitely a fully fleshed out version of a track

and piano? i am shocked

[chks]

She mentioned that she wouldn’t share the instrumentation of her new record before 2027, and somehow i doubt the piano will stay knowing her, although to me it sounds great and i’m a piano fan. Very melodic, seemingly accessible song, with layered vocals, and it’s hard not to think of utopia, but i feel the melody sounds gentler here.

[cowboy]

Amazing artwork from the (painter) artist, the video looks beautiful!!
And the few seconds of the song i listened to:
I’m hype, but final word when i see/listen to the whole thing..

[arucinluv]

the artwork looks amazing, very proto-surrealist art style, but i hate the animation, it looks so dated

the song sounds way more fleshed out than i expected, almost like a mix between and

and piano? i am shocked

i really hope she keeps it in the final version! i know she's kinda against using piano on her songs ...

[chks]

It kind of sucks being introduced to a new bjork song - although a demo - through Low quality snippets. I honestly thought that visitors would only be able to listen to it through headphones to prevent it from leaking, but since apparently recording will be a widespread practice, i really wish she would share the whole thing. Seems improbable i know but still.

[u•ɹɥʇ•ɯ]

You don’t have to listen, you know

[chks]

Yes, i’m aware