First honorary fellowship of Cumbria’s November 2024 graduations

Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir, originally from Reykjavik, Iceland, graduated from the University of Iceland with a degree in Education before pursuing Fine Art undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the Glasgow School of Art. 

Her career in academia included lecturing and research roles at the Glasgow School of Art and various other universities in Iceland. As a Professor of Fine Art, she established the Valand Artistic Research Centre at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where she also completed her PhD in 2010. 

Bryndís has contributed to numerous journals and reviews over the past 25 years, publishing, contributing to, or featuring in over 60 books. As a frequent public speaker, she has delivered lectures and conference papers locally and internationally. 

For the past 25 years, Bryndís has worked in an interdisciplinary art partnership with artist and educator Mark Wilson, a former student and emeritus professor of fine art at the University of Cumbria.  

Together, Bryndis and Mark’s collaborative art practice delves into the relationships between humans and non-human species, exploring themes of history, culture, and the environment. Their work challenges anthropocentric views through projects focused on specific animals or organisms and the complexities of their interactions with humans.  

In 2021, Mark‘s work “Using art to influence, benefit and inform conflicts in human and non-human interaction, and efforts to conserve species” was used as an example of where University of Cumbria research has delivered benefit to society as part of our submission, and subsequent awarding of, Research Excellence Framework 2021.  

In March 2022, Bryndís and Mark Wilson received the Icelandic Arts Prize from the Icelandic Visual Arts Council for their exhibition "Visitations: Polar Bears Out of Place" at the Akureyri Art Museum, marking the pinnacle of their collaborative achievements. 

Bryndís's practice has had a profound impact on contemporary art and research, significantly contributing to the attainment of Research Degree Awarding Powers at the University of Cumbria.  

She continues her academic career as a Professor of Fine Arts at Iceland University of the Arts while maintaining her collaborative research and exhibitions Iceland and the UK.  

Bryndís has also played a key role in fostering educational exchanges relationships between Icelandic universities and the University of Cumbria. With our growing academic and research profile internationally resulting in cohorts of students successfully embarking and completing undergraduate and postgraduate arts programmes at the Brampton Road (Carlisle) campus of the University of Cumbria.  

Bryndís talks about her honorary fellowship in the video below.