An exhibition of Icelandic art and design opened in Beijing on Tuesday, as a follow up to the Beijing Design Week and the Sino-Nordic Cultural Festival known as NOTCH-10. The exhibition showcases recent artistic achievements in Iceland, many of which get their inspiration directly from nature.

20 compositions of clothing items mounted on mannequins is a sharp contrast with a steel factory workshop. Steinunn Sigurdardottir is one of Iceland’s foremost fashion designers. She has worked with some of the world’s biggest fashion houses, and says she is much enlightened by the volcano, a natural symbol of Iceland.

A collection of glacier pictures brings to life the movements inside Vatnajokull Glacier, the biggest glacier in Europe. The frozen layers of snow from the past are like endless pages in a historical book.

Space & Poetry is a multimedia installation that brings forth the cyclical movement of nature. Artists use various visual and auditory media to capture the ever-changing manuscript of the Icelandic spring, creating a moving record of weather runes, letters and words.

And an assembly of Icelandic furniture, product design, and architecture covers works of 22 designers and design teams, who have garnered international attention spotlighting the characteristics of contemporary Iceland.

The exhibition will run until November 28, as a homage to the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Iceland diplomatic relations in 2011.