Meet Photographer Árni Haraldsson on Thursday, August 27 at Fensala Hall from 3:00 - 4:00. He will be sharing a slideshow presentation of houses he has photographed over the years, including Geir’s House in Seyðisfjördur, occupied by a local character and “folk” artist, as well as some fishermen’s turf huts up near Húsavík. Having travelled extensively, he will also show other houses, further afield, such as Chekov’s house and garden in Crimea, and a Guest House in the lake country of Kerala, South India, that featured in an Indian film.

While staying at the Buttermaker’s House in Markerville, Árni will be photographing the nearby Stephan G. Stephansson House and surroundings. Part of his project is to compare the homes of these two renowned Icelandic writers. He is interested in Stephansson as a writer and as seen in juxtaposition with Gunnarsson. In other words: the houses of two renowned Icelandic writers, in particular the idea of the private house as an abode that harbours remnants or traces of lived life. 


Árni Rúnar Haraldsson - Artist Bio
Árni Rúnar Haraldsson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1958, and grew up in Sauðárkrókur in Skagafjörður. He came to Canada with his family at age ten. He enrolled in the Vancouver School of Art, studying drawing and painting but ended up concentrating on large-format photography. Árni, recently retired, was an Associate Professor of Photography at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Vancouver.

A few years ago, Árni did a residency at Skriðuklaustur, near Egilsstaðir in eastern Iceland. Skriðuklaustur is the location of a house built by the Icelandic author, Gunnar Gunnarsson, famous for having written The Good Shepherd and The Black Cliffs, among other prose. Árni’s interest in photographing Gunnarsson’s house was to consider its history and repurposing – from private residence to public cultural centre; and to also situate the house in relation to its surrounding environment, both in terms of place and time – landscape and light.

Take a Step Toward Reconciliation! Join us for a Blanket Exercise and experience an interactive learning opportunity that explores the shared history between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Suitable for ages 12+ | Everyone is welcome. Join us for an opportunity to learn, listen, reflect, and deepen our understanding of Indigenous histories and experiences in Canada. This event will be held at Fensala Hall, 24 Main Avenue, Markerville on September 26, 2026 from 12:30pm - 4:00 pm. It's open to the public, tickets are $10, with children under 12 getting in free. Space is limited to 50 participants.

Facilitated by Community Members of the Urban Indiginous Voices Society (UIVS), Red Deer

About the Author:
D. Larraine Andrews makes her home in High River, Alberta, a short distance from the Rocky Mountains and directly in the path of the magical Chinook wind that often figures prominently in several of her books. She grew up on a farm near Vulcan, Alberta where her lifelong addiction to the history of the Wild West began with her Dad’s collection of Zane Grey novels.

In addition to her latest book, Tales from the Highwood Cemetery: Lives and Legacies of High River and Beyond, she is the author of Ranching under the Arch: Stories from the Southern Alberta Rangelands; The Cowboy Trail: A Guide to Alberta’s Historic Cowboy Country; and Great Walks of the World: From Your Armchair or from the Trail, A History and How-to for Some of the World’s Best Hikes and Walks.
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Larraine has written extensively for international and national magazines and newspapers and was a contributing author to the 2008 edition of Defining Moments in History. In 2001 she won the Dateline Hong Kong Fellowship, a national competition sponsored by the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.