REYKJAVÍK.- BERG Contemporary congratulates Steina Vasulka, The National Gallery of Iceland and the Reykjavík Art Museum on their recent award for outstanding retrospective at the Icelandic Art Prize 2026. They recieved their award for the retrospective Steina: Playback.

Steina Vasulka is internationally recognized as a leading pioneer in video and new media art; she is also a major influence on contemporary art in Iceland. The exhibition was the first major retrospective of Steina's work in Iceland. It spun the entire scope of Steina's artistic career, from early experiments in documentary video work to her most recent installations from the early 2000s. Taken together, the retrospective traced the development of Steina’s ideas and technological innovations over several decades. Her work uniquely connects video art, music, and technology in ways that are both highly inventive and playful.

Steina Vasulka (b. 1940, Iceland; lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico) trained as a violinist in Reykjavík and Prague. She emigrated to the United States in 1965 with her life partner, Woody Vasulka. Initially working as a freelance musician in New York, she began to focus on video in 1970, and in 1971, cofounded The Electronic Kitchen (later The Kitchen), the legendary multidisciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art space in New York City. After moving to Buffalo in 1973, Steina helped develop the production lab at the Center for Media Study, SUNY at Buffalo. Since 1980, she has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, exhibiting regularly around the world. Her work is considered foundational in the history of video art.

The National Gallery of Iceland and the Reykjavík Art Museum presented a collaboration on this comprehensive exhibition. This exhibition was originally organized by the MIT List Visual Arts Center in collaboration with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, where it was exhibited respectively. It was co-curated by Natalie Bell, MIT List Visual Arts Center, and Helga Christoffersen, Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Coordinating curators for the Iceland edition of the exhibition were Markús Þór Andrésson, Reykjavík Art Museum, and Pari Stave, National Gallery of Iceland