Welcome to Cryophilia

Þorvarður Árnason is a leading environmental scholar and founding figure of the Environmental Humanities in Iceland. For the past two decades he has held the dual position of Director of the University of Iceland´s Hornafjordur Research Centre and Associate Research Professor at the University of Iceland. His academic background is highly interdisciplinary, involving studies in biology, filmmaking, and environmental philosophy and politics. Þorvarður´s  research activities over the past three decades have involved a broad spectrum of topics, but in recent years his main focus has been on interdisciplinary climate change research and communication.

Concurrently to this shift in his research emphasis, Þorvarður has devoted more and more of his time to the use of visual media (film, photography, timelapse, CG) for both scientific documentation and artistic creation. In February 2023, his multi-media work Blámi (Blueness), opened at the Svavar Guðnason Art Museum, showcasing his work on the melting glaciers of Hornafjörður over a 15 year period. This was followed by the exhibition Jöklablámi ín The Factory at Hjalteyri in May 2025. Two of his artworks also form part of the collective exhibition Viðnám (Resistance) in the National Gallery of Iceland´s House of Collections in Reykjavík. Þorvarður is furthermore the producer and co-author of the documentary films After Ice (2021) and The Grand Harmony of the Sands (2021).