*This article first appeared at Iceland Review on-line on February, 18, 2008. The exhibition reviewed was "Pioneers of Art-Samal Joensen Mikines and Nina Saemundsson".

Imagine being born on a secluded island, which at the time of your birth counts no more than 120 people. Imagine growing up surrounded by endless water and bottomless sky in a remote fishing village. There, each journey to the ocean can easily turn into the last one, and life mainly consists of seeing off the fishermen and bidding farewell to those lost at sea. Imagine at the age of nine, due to your good singing voice, being made "Singer for the Dead." Each time tragedy strikes, according to Faroese tradition, you place your hand on a dead person's chest an...