REYKHÓLA-MARÍA SHRINE
Reykhóla-María is a statue of Mary in the Cathedral of Christ the King in Reykjavik. Named after a place in Iceland, it is believed to be from the 14th or early 15th century. It is the oldest artefact belonging to the Catholic Church in Iceland and it was a gift in 1926 from a Lutheran family. They preserved and kept the statue in their family for hundreds of years and gave it to the Catholic church afterwards as a gift for the start of building of the Cathedral. During his visit in 1989, Pope John Paul II blessed it and crowned it with a golden crown made by a local goldsmith.
In January 2021 there was a competition to design a shrine for the statue as an appropriate place and also a protection for the statue. Immediately I had an idea for it, in accordance with the look of the Cathedral, inspired by amazing Icelandic nature. I entered the competition with a friend of mine – Darko Kipet – who is an expert in graphic design. In February 2021 our design won the competition and the project has been realised in January 2023.