Artist builds dollhouse to honor friend’s legacy
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In Reykjavik, Iceland, artist Bergljót Gunnarsdóttir renovated a dollhouse as a memorial to her friend Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir, who passed away two years ago.
Bergljót discovered the dilapidated dollhouse and decided to restore it, adding details to create a fully furnished home. She plans to donate the finished dollhouse to Kvennaathvarfið, a women’s shelter in Iceland, so the children staying there can enjoy it.
Elísabet dedicated much of her life to supporting Kvennaathvarfið, having been involved in its founding in 1982 and volunteering there alongside her teaching career. She was also a teacher, translator, and a key organizer of the 1975 Icelandic Women’s Day, advocating for equality and the well-being of women and children. Bergljót described her friend as an exceptional and thoughtful person. The artist spent months carefully rebuilding the dollhouse, even creating a small southern European-style pizza restaurant on the ground floor.
She also incorporated recycled materials, like broken dishes repurposed as tabletops, demonstrating her commitment to resourcefulness. Bergljót imagined teenage twins living on the top floor, but removed electronic devices to encourage reading comprehension, referencing concerns about recent results from the PISA assessment. She views the dollhouse as a small world she created, and anticipates the children at the shelter will create their own stories within it.
