Icelandic Choregraphers, companies and works 2022

ICELANDIC CHOREOGRAPHERS COMPANIES & WORKS 2022

Coverphoto from Iceland Dance Company production of Aion.

Photo by Einar Hrafn Stefánsson

ALEXANDER ROBERTS & ÁSRÚN MAGNÚSDÓTTIR

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ANNA KOLFINNA KURAN

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ICELAND DANCE COMPANY

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INGA HULD HÁKONARDÓTTIR

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INGA MAREN - LAST MINUTE PRODUCTIONS

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IN GOOD COMPANY

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KATRÍN GUNNARSDÓTTIR

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LOSTI COLLECTIVE

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LOVÍSA ÓSK GUNNARSDÓTTIR

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MARBLE CROWD

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PROJECT HOFIE

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RÓSA ÓMARSDÓTTIR

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SIGGA SOFFÍA

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SVEINBJÖRG ÞÓRHALLSDÓTTIR

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YELENA ARAKELOW

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PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE ICELAND

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REYKJAVIK DANCE FESTIVAL

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DANSVERKSTÆÐIÐ

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ICE HOT NORDIC DANCE PLATFORM

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OTHER DANCE RELATED VENUES & ORGANIZATIONS 34

Photo Hörður Sveinsson

ALEXANDER ROBERTS & ÁSRÚN MAGNÚSDÓTTIR Ásrún and Alexander have been working closely and intensively together for a number of years on a range of different dance and performance projects. Their focus has been on stretching the dominant modes of dance and performance, and developing work in collaboration with people whose voices are often lesser represented. Their work has been well received at home and abroad, with a number of awards and nominations, as well as invitations to a growing number of venue and festival contexts.

Available for touring Teenage Choir of Love and Sex sing songs they have written themselves based on their own romantic and sexual experiences.

Ball. Dance is not about virtuosity or brilliance; it is about the experience that comes from dancing together.

Listening Party is a party on stage, the hosts are teenagers. They play their favorite music. Sometimes they sing along or dance along or cry along or whatever.

Looking for The artist duo are looking for co-production for next piece as well as residencies and touring opportunities. Ásrún Magnúsdóttir +354 8234336 asrunm@gmail.com www.asrunmagnusdottir.com

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Photo Owen Fiene

ANNA KOLFINNA KURAN Anna Kolfinna Kuran b. 1989 is a choreographer based in Reykjavik, Iceland. Anna Kolfinna is interested in bridging the gap between community and art through her work and is devoted to creating safe spaces and striving for feminist utopias, one project at a time. Her artistic vision is to create visually stunning works that often have a simple yet layered process. Anna Kolfinna explores the powers of softness and stillness as choreographical elements in her work.

Available for touring “Takeover” is a 35 minute sound- and dance performance, in which a wide spectrum of women all ages, take over a venue in a powerful ceremony. The piece engages with the local femme community of each place it is performed.

Looking for Anna Kolfinna is looking for co-production and touring opportunities for next Takeovers, working with local femmes in each place. Also looking for residency opportunities for new and up-coming work.

Anna Kolfinna Kuran +354 8660575 annakolfinna@gmail.com www.annakolfinna.com

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Photo Hörður Sveinsson from Romeo

Juliet

ICELAND DANCE COMPANY Iceland Dance Company (IDC) is the national dance company of Iceland.

Iceland Dance Company is a progressive contemporary dance company constantly building a repertoire of choreography by many of Europe’s leading choreographers. IDC emphasizes developing partnerships with other cultural institutions and prides itself on a tradition of working with emerging talents in all artistic fields. IDC also frequently commissions new music and participates in various international dance and stage arts networks.

Available for touring AIŌN / Erna Ómarsdóttir & Anna Thorvaldsdottir BALL / Alexander Roberts & Ásrún Magnúsdóttir Best of Darkness / Erna Ómarsdóttir, Valdimar Jóhannsson & Sigur Rós Black Marrow / Damien Jalet, Erna Ómarsdóttir & Ben Frost Crevasses / Inga Maren Rúnarsdóttir Daydreams / Inga Maren Rúnarsdóttir Romeo Juliet / Erna Ómarsdóttir & Halla Ólafsdóttir Looking for Iceland Dance Company is looking for co-production and touring/ performing opportunities.

Iceland Dance Company +354 588 0900 id@id.is www.id.is

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INGA HULD HÁKONARDÓTTIR The work of Inga Huld Hákonardóttir is situated in the field of performance and choreography and on occasion branches into music/ concert. Her work could be described as a playful and corporal sense making and generally focuses on seeking friction between the symbolic and the sensorial, passing through diverse realms and mediums. Inga graduated from the P.A.R.T.S, Brussels in 2014 and has been working in the field of dance and performance since, with her home base in Brussels.

Available for touring Neind Thing: Seeks to transform a state of chaos and misery into a state of renewed empowerment, through dance, games and comical dialogue.

The Valley: A place where man and machine have merged and the boundaries between lifeless bodies and animate machines is blurred, created with Rósa Ómarsdóttir.

Again The Sunset: A raw performance where the form and concept of "love song" is skewed.

Looking for Inga Huld is looking for performance opportunities, co-productions and residency for a new upcoming work .

Inga Huld Hákonardóttir +32 488 695953 ingahulda@gmail.com www.ingahakonardottir.com

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Photo RAX

INGA MAREN LAST MINUTE PRODUCTIONS Inga Maren, an award-winning dancer and choreographer, started choreographing independently in 2020 and her work has since received 10 Icelandic Performing Arts Awards nominations.

She sources her own under-goings for inspiration by writing prose and poetry, weaving narratives of human experiences, resulting in her work having a magic realist strain with a strong narrational underlining, while allowing for an hermeneutic open-endedness.

Inga takes a holistic approach to the cross disciplinary act of composing, where production aspects meet, eluding sharp definitions where one thread ends and another begins.

Available for touring Daydreams: an imaginary work for children encouraging them to see themselves in a positive light, emphasizing how it is best to be your true self, rather than constantly trying to conform.

Crevasses: a piece that explores the hidden layers of the mind, where traumas and analogous experiences stay rooted, until the thin layer concealing them brakes, revealing forgotten or suppressed wounds.

Looking for Inga is looking for touring opportunities, co-productions, residencies and offers to create work.

Inga Maren +354 6952325 ingamaren@gmail.com www.ingamaren.com

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IN GOOD COMPANY Notalegur félagsskapur (In good company) is a collective of three Icelandic dance artists: Erla Rut Mathiesen, Eydís Rose Vilmundardóttir and Sara Margrét Ragnarsdóttir.

Their collective curiosity lies in the social role of the dancefloor and manifests in the series “Ode to a Dancefloor”. The series consists of video portraits that document Icelandic dancers and choreographers and have been presented at many festivals. The collective is currently working towards a new piece, a trio for stage.

Available for touring "P[art]Ý" (90 min, 2021) is a video installation documenting Icelandic dancers and choreographers through video portraits.

Looking for A residency in 2023 to develop our new work, Ómur (Resonance), a trio dance performance.

A collaboration with dancers and choreographers outside of Iceland to create dance video portraits as a continuation of “P[art]Ý”

Eydis Rose Vilmundardottir +354 6913683 notalegur.felagsskapur@gmail.com www.notalegurfelagsskapur.is

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Photo Owen Fiene

KATRÍN GUNNARSDÓTTIR Katrín Gunnarsdóttir is an Icelandic choreographer and dancer based in Reykjavík. In her work she is interested in soft encounters, quietness and resonance, relentless ever-changing flow, labour of the dancer and the body as archive. She has made award-winning performances that have been shown around Iceland and in Europe.

Available for touring ALDA is an installation and an ongoing performance that exists on the boundaries between dance and visual arts. Inspired by women’s collective physical labour, the work uses repetitive motions and singing to make space for intimate female assembly, care and coalescence.

THEL is an organic embrace, a fragile mass of manual labour, a soft landscape. A commission for Iceland Dance Company in 2019.

Looking for Our main ambition is to find touring opportunities with ALDA which takes place in a museum setting or a gallery, Available for touring in short format (min. 1 week) or new versions with local dancers from 2024 and onwards.

We are also looking for touring possibilities with THEL both available for staging/adapting from 2024 and onwards.

Heba Eir Kjeld +354 847 8472 gunnarsdottirproduction@gmail.com www.katringunnarsdottir.com

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LOSTI COLLECTIVE Losti Collective is a performance group based in Iceland and Finland.

Their work is mainly based on dance and non-verbal storytelling. It’s core members are Selma Reynisdóttir, dancer and choreographer (Finland) and Hallveig Kristín Eiríksdóttir, director and performance maker (Iceland).

In their current project, “Hunden Bakom Mannen”, Selma and Hallveig perform as the 97 dogs that sailed from Greenland to accompany the explorer Roald Amundsen all the way to the South-Pole.

Available for touring The performance "Hunden Bakom Mannen" or "The Dog Behind the Man" is a new dance performance that follows the story of the 97 Greenlandic sled dogs who accompanied the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen on an expedition that was later named the "Race to the South Pole." But this performance is not about Roald Amundsen, or Robert Falcon Scott, this performance is about Fisken, Kvæn, Lussi, Jaala.

Looking for We are looking for touring possibilities. This piece is ideal for touring, with a set- and costume design that fits into four suitcases. This piece exists in two versions, originally it was created for an adult audience, but has since its premiere performed at a festival for young audience where we adapted the performance to better speak to an audience from the age of 6 years and up.

Selma Reynisdóttir +358 449521265 losticollective@gmail.com www.losticollective.com

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Photo Owen Fiene

LOVÍSA ÓSK GUNNARSDÓTTIR Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir is an award-winning dancer and choreographer. After 16 years of a successful career at Iceland Dance Company she suffered an injury that forced her to reconsider her relationship with dance, the body, and her artistic practice. This process opened her eyes to the silence around menopause and her own lack of knowledge on the subject. She did a masters study at Iceland´s University of the Arts that involved research into aging, menopause and connecting to the body´s knowledge and history.

Available for touring When the Bleeding Stops In this work, Gunnarsdóttir addresses the silence and taboo that seems to engulf menopause in Western society.

The work dives deep into the many layers of the female experience associated with menopause and invites us to witness a world of vulnerability, shame, empathy and humor.

Gunnarsdóttir works with local women in each place and invites them to the stage.

Looking for Gunnarsdóttir is looking for co - producers, venues, presenting partners, networking opportunities and residencies with the aim to travel with the work and develop it even further, to open up a conversation and to be a part of changing the narrative on menopause in Western Society.

Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir +354 6937071 lovisaosk@gmail.com www.whenthebleedingstops.com

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MARBLE CROWD Marble Crowd is a Reykjavik-based ensemble of artists that attempt grand tasks through the practice of transformative play.

Their first project, Moving Mountains in Three Essays, premiered in 2017 in collaboration with K3 Tanzplan Hamburg and was nominated as the Production of the Year in Europe by Tanz Magazine.

Their most recent work ØLAND premiered at the National Theatre of Iceland in 2020 to great acclaim, receiving the Icelandic Performing Arts Awards for Choreography, Costumes and Music.

Available for touring Moving Mountains in Three Essays: A choreographic journey for a big stage, skipping robes, one parachute and five fools. ØLAND: Five stranded seafarers/artists try to recreate the world from memory, stumbling between past and present in a shimmering postdecadent landscape.

Looking for Moving Mountains in Three Essays: Touring/performing opportunities ØLAND: Touring/performing opportunities Co-production for Marble Crowd´s up-coming big-stage work (premiere at Reykjavik City Theatre in fall 2023).

Kara Hergils +354 6962360 themarblecrowd@gmail.com www.marblecrowd.com

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PROJECT HOFIE "We are project HOFIE, a group of young upcoming artists from different backgrounds and nationalities based in Iceland. Under the name of this project we performed the following works: - HOFIE I, II, III:ORBIT (three-set performances) - How can we make this circle straight?

- HOFIE III:ORBIT the album (music creation) The project aims to create a sensory experience for the audience to have a journey outside of their reality."

Available for touring HOFIE III: ORBIT: performance exhibition with a duration of 3 hours.

Step into the reality of alter ego HOFIE, in which the performer will be set on a journey in time and circular movement.

How can we make this circle straight? A dance duet inspired by circular movement. The audience is allowed to draw from which we build an archive of drawings to inspire our movement language.

Looking for HOFIE III: ORBIT With this work we are looking for performance spaces.

How can we make this circle straight? With this work we are looking for unconventional performance places to perform. Such as festivals, local theaters, intimate (outside) venues.

At the moment Project HOFIE consists of Júlía Kolbrún and Linde Rongen who are recent graduates and are driven to broaden their network.

Linde Hanna Rongen +3547927952 projecthofie@gmail.com project-hofie.jimdosite.com

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RÓSA ÓMARSDÓTTIR Rósa Ómarsdóttir is an award winning Icelandic choreographer. She studied at the Icelandic University of the Arts and PARTS in Brussels. In 2021 Rósa was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude. Rósa’s artistic practice is interdisciplinary by nature and weaves together interests in choreography, live sound-production and visual arts, with a feminist approach to dramaturgy. Her work has been presented at festivals, theatres and galleries internationally.

Available for touring Traces: 60 minutes group piece for blackbox without auditorium.

Audience sit around the stage.

Spills: 60 minutes solo for blackbox Collaborative Contamination: a installation and a 40 minutes performance for galleries, theatres, hallways, foyers, or other alternative spaces.

More info: www.rosaomarsdottir.com Looking for Rósa is primarily looking for venues, galleries and theatres to show her existing work. She is currently looking for further co-production collaborators for her up-coming performance MOLTA. She values close and sustainable collaboration with programers and promoters and hopes to expand her network even more with other likeminded culture professionals.

Rósa Ómarsdóttir +354 8234016 rosaomars@gmail.com www.rosaomarsdottir.com

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SIGGA SOFFÍA Sigga Soffia has a BA-Degree in Contemporary dance from Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2009 doing her exchange in acrobatics at Ecole Superior des Arts de Cirque in Brussels She best known for her fireworks performances- choreographing the fireworks show of Reykjavík cultural night 2013-2015. Latest fireworks show "Northern Nights" fireworks at La Mercé festival Barcelona 2017.

Sigga Soffia explores movement in all its forms and mediums from working with dancers, flowers and liquid choreography Available for touring Flowers of fire - choreography for fireworks and flora: A flowerinstallation. A slow motion choreographed fireworksshow of flowers.

Elexir: Liquid choreography: a drink that will make you dance: available from March 2023.

“Congratulations” a dance performance that will premiere at the National theater 19.april ´23. Based on poems by Sigga Soffia, written while doing chemo,features 7 women onstage.

Looking for Venues for touring, co-production for next projects. Looking for festivals/theaters that would like to preorder "Eldblóma-Elexir" Concept-drink 17% alcohol/ the icelandic spritz. Bottled by ballerinas, botanicals handpicked by contemporary dancers. The drink has a high % of contemporary dance. A drink made by a dancer for all dancers.

Sigga Soffia +354 6639381 sigridursoffia@gmail.com www.siggasoffia.com

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Photo Saga Sigurðardóttir

SVEINBJÖRG ÞÓRHALLSDÓTTIR Sveinbjörg holds a master's degree in choreography from Fontys University in Holland. She has worked as a professional choreographer in all major theaters in Reykjavík. After working as a professor at the Iceland University of the Arts she is back in the freelance scene to focus on her own work again. Her recent work "ROF" resulted from her IUA research and was premiered on Reykjavik Dance Festival in Nov. 2021 and to be re-run in Sept. 2022.

Available for touring ROF is aesthetically a strong solo dance work where the dancer interprets through the senses the story of her body. Through a carefully crafted method devised by the choreographer, the dancer reaches deep within to connect from her core to the audience. Music plays a big role as the dancer wears two smart rings on her fingers to produce sound with her movements affecting the texture of the sound.

Looking for I am looking for opportunities to travel with my new work ROF (RIFT) to be performed in theaters abroad or outside of Iceland. I am also looking for co- productions and residencies for my next work which will be the second result of my recent research method "All movement has a mind in relation to time and space".

Sveinbjörg Þórhallsdóttir +354 6977140 sveinbjorg.thorhallsdottir@gmail.com www.sveinbjorg.com

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Photo Patrik Ontkovic

YELENA ARAKELOW Yelena Arakelow is an emerging dance artist based in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Her interdisciplinary performances focus on corporeal existence and anticipation in dance and choreography. The collective experience of the audience lies in the foreground and through repetitive motion she creates desire for change.

Available for touring """waiting for a dance"" (34 minutes, 2022, Young Nordic Music Festival Iceland) is a solo dance performance on the topic of anticipation in dance and the relationship between the sound, dancer and musician on the theatre stage. ""work (it) out"" (21 minutes, 2020, Tanzhaus Zürich, Switzerland) is a solo dance performance on the choreographic notion of push-ups and gel-nails."

Looking for "Yelena Arakelow is looking for residencies in 22/23 and a coproduction in 23/24 for her next creation.

As a producer she is seeking networking opportunities in the field of emerging dance workers (from dancers, dramaturges to light designers) between Iceland and the Nordic/Baltic countries. "

Yelena Arakelow +354 7852798 y.arakelow@gmail.com www.yelenaarakelow.com

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Performing Arts Centre Iceland is a promotional, resource and capacity building centre for the performing arts in Iceland including theatre, dance, circus, opera, puppetry and childrens theatre.

Performing Arts Centre Iceland began operations in 2022 and is founded by all the main stakeholders in the performing arts in Iceland.

The centre is run with support from the Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs.

Performing Arts Centre Iceland plays a role in supporting Icelandic performing arts and increasing their visibility and reputation in Iceland and abroad.

The Centre intends to achieve its purpose through strong promotional and specific initiatives that encourage international relations among performing artists and institutions in Iceland.

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REYKJAVIK DANCE FESTIVAL

Reykjavík Dance Festival is an international dance and performance festival located in Reykjavík, Iceland. RDF seeks to curate an all year round conversation with its audiences through the artists it presents, supports and produces.

Founded in 2002, the festival's presence in the international performance scene has grown and today RDF is part of international networks and projects such as APAP and NREP. RDF's main activity takes place during an annual four-day festival in November where choreography, experimental dance and performance projects from Iceland and abroad are platformed alongside events, workshops and parties. The artistic directors of RDF are Brogan Davison and Pétur Ármannsson.

Next edition of Reykjavik Dance Festival will take place 16th 19th of November. 2022 More on www.reykjavikdancefestival.com

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From its inception in 2010, Dansverkstæðið has been built with the integral principles of inclusivity and sustainability for the support and advancement of Reykjavík’s freelance dance community. Through open morning classes, residency programs and collaborations with festivals and artists, we take part in building an environment in which everybody is welcome and open access is of primary importance. Dansverkstæðið does not curate or co-produce artistic work but aims to support local artists with space, advice and connections.

Dansverkstæðið also rents out studios to performing artists of all kinds; dance, theatre, opera and circus.

Our goal with international collaborations is to connect artists, bring inspiration to our local community from other spaces and places and make networks on all levels of the dance community from artists to managers, teachers, producers and out to all lovers of dance. info@dansverkstaedid.is +354 6118244 www.dansverkstaedid.is

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Icelandic delegation 2022 Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform is an event presenting both emerging and established names of Nordic contemporary dance and choreography to presenters, programmers and other professionals from all over the world.

Ice Hot Nordic Dance is a collaboration network of partner organizations in five Nordic countries: Dance Info Finland, Dansehallerne (Denmark), Dansens Hus Oslo (Norway), Dansens Hus Stockholm (Sweden) and Performing Arts Centre Iceland.

Ice Hot 2022 took place from June 29 to July 3 at the Cable Factory and the brand new Tanssin talo, Dance House Helsinki.

Ice Hot Helsinki team was delighted to host the 172 artists and company members from all Nordic countries who presented their work to nearly 300 guests – presenters, programmers, funders – from all over the world.

Icelandic choreographers presented three works on stage: Spills by Rósa Ómarsdóttir, ØLAND by Marble Crowd and Takeover by Anna Kolfinna Kuran.

THE NEXT EDITION OF ICE HOT NORDIC DANCE PLATFORM IN OSLO, FEBRUARY 2024!

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OTHER DANCE RELATED VENUES AND ORGANIZATIONS The National Theatre of Iceland www.leikhusid.is Reykjavik City Theatre www.borgarleikhusid.is Akureyri Cultural Centre and Theatre www.mak.is Iceland Dance Company www.id.is Tjarnarbíó - home of independent performing arts www.tjarnarbio.is Gablers Theatre in Hafnarfjörður www.gaflaraleikhusid.is The Freezer culture center in Rif www.thefreezerhostel.com Association of Independent Performing Arts www.leikhopar.is Association of Icelandic Dancers www.felagislenskralistdansara.com Icelandic Choreographers Association danshofundar.wordpress.com

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Tryggvagata 11 101 Reykjavik Iceland Fridrik Fridriksson, director +354 699 0770 fridrik@performingarts.is www.performingarts.is