Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.12.2002, Blaðsíða 10

page 10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 6 December 2002
Continued from page 1
continued from page 1
Kevin
Vikings
Unity 1918 is published by
Talonbooks and distributed by
University of Toronto Press
(ISBN 0-88922-461-7). The
Governor General's Literary
Awards describe it as "A deftly
interwoven tapestry of the dis-
aster that strikes the town of
Unity, SK, during the 1918 flu
epidemic. This extraordinary
play refuses to bend to senti-
mentality, revelling instead in
the gallows humour and unre-
quited loves of a community
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Michael Kurtz
10:30 a.m. The Serviee
First Lutheran Church
589 Victor St., Winnipeg
R3G1R2 Ph. 772-7444
facing imminent death."
Kevin Kerr is a founding
member and co-Artistic
Director of the Electric
Company Theatre in
Vancouver, a collective with
whom he's co-written several
plays including Brilliantl, The
Wake and The Score. He wrote
Unity (1918) while playwright-
in-residence at Touchstone
Theatre. He has received four
Jessie Awards, both solo and
with the Electric Company. He
studied theatre at UBC, and
has worked in theatre in the
Yukon, B.C., and Quebec.
Kevin's play has been
translated to French, and will
be mounted in Montreal in
February, and at the end of
March will run for five days at
the National Arts Centre.
Watch L-H Calendar of Events
for exact dates and times.
VlKING INN
Gimli, MB
(204) 642-5168
• 21 Renovated Rooms
• Gord Lee’s Chinese Dining
Ph. 642-5170
• “Two Friends” Nite Club
• Beer Store
W ORKING TOGETHER

lcelandic
Canadian
Heritage
I
•>j^
To Preserve Our Common Heritage
Gleðileg jól - Gott og farsælt komandi ár
From
Glaumbær Fólk Museum
SkAGAFJÖRÐUR, ICELAND
J ' BYGGÐASAFN SKAGFIRÐINGA GLAUMBÆ I
ICELANDIC EMIGRATION CENTRE
Hofsós, Iceland
New Iceland Heritgage Museum
Gimli, Canada
two countries
ONESTORY
THE SAGA CONTINUES
Photo by John Askelson
Man in chain-mail-shirt standing besides the President of
Iceland and his fiancee
"These manuscripts that we
have lent here are really our
national treasures ... These
manuscripts show the Saga of
the Greenlanders and Erik the
Red's Saga where the joumeys
of Leifur Eiríksson and the dis-
coverers are described in detail.
... And in addition to that we
also display the oldest law book
from Iceland which shows how
extensive a system of law mak-
ing had been created in Iceland
more than 1,000 years ago,
which indicates once again that
Leifur the Lucky, Leifur
Eiríksson, came from a demo-
cratic community and had
already experienced the rule of
law."
With a hoard of over 300
items, the exhibit has been
described as the greatest mod-
em assembling of Viking era
artifacts. Also among the treas-
ures are a ninth-century carved
stone marker from Gotland
depicting the journey to
Valhalla; a wooden crucifix
found in Greenland; three chess
pieces carved from walrus tusk
found on the Isle of Lewis in the
Outer Hebrides; the Mammen
Ax from the tomb of a Viking
nobleman; and a replica of the
Lindisfame gravestone,
believed to commemorate those
killed in the raid of 793 A.D. at
Lindisfame England, an event
often cited as the dawn of the
Viking era. William Fitzhugh,
Smithsonian exhibit curator,
comments, "This show is very
complicated. A lot of different
issues and stories are being told
here. Of course in terms of com-
ing to the New World I think the
little Bishop of Baffin, the
wooden carving from the Thule
Inuit site in Canada, is a really
spectacular piece because it is
so small, and it is so distinctive,
that you know that some Inuit
guy met a Norseman and made
this little fígurine carving." A
replica of the Kensington Rune
stone unearthed in central
Minnesota with a mnic inscrip-
tion dated 1362 A.D. is also on
display, but placed in the exhib-
it's myths and folklore section.
The Science Museum has
constructed a Viking Village
with depictions from domestic
life including a wood shop, tex-
tile area, kitchen and a metal
shop. Volunteers who demon-
strate various crafts of the era,
such as woodtuming, spinning
and weaving and making chain
mail, staff the Village. Visitors
can join in the experience of
making chain mail and try on a
mail shirt. This Village will
house special events throughout
the run of the exhibit such as
reenactments of Viking era
story telling.
Several local experts will be
joined by colleagues from
Iceland, Norway and England to
conduct a series of lectures and
classes on Viking era society at
the Science Museum. Topics
include Guðríður the Wide
Travelled and the establishment
of the Icelandic and
Greenlandic societies.
Sharing in the enthusiasm
around this event President
Grímsson concludes, "I am very
happy and proud to see this
exhibition become a reality
because it really is the first time
that the United States embraces
this history of the joint heritage
between the Nordic countries
and America, of how this conti-
nent was discovered 1,000 years
ago by the Vikings who came
from Iceland and the other
Nordic countries."
Vikings: The North
American Saga is expected to
draw 400,000 visitors to St.
Paul and is thefirst major show
at the new Science Museum
building since its opening in*
1999. The exhibit is open daily,
except holidays. Special tours
for school groups are arranged.
More information may be
obtained from the Science
Museum at (651) 221-9426 or
on their web site:
www.smm.org.
More Thanks from L-H
A big vote of thanks to Vi
Bjarnason Hilton, who
donated a ,desk to the L-H
operation. It saved us a
bundle of money to get
this gift.
And thanks to all our
muscle men, who helped
us move the office from
Gimli into Winnipeg -
Lorne MacPherson, who
made the trip to Gimli,
Ricki Bourget, Vi's
grandson and his friend
Bleu Bridges who hauled
the stuff up the stairs to
the office, and Arne
MacPherson, Ricki and
Bleu who fetched the
desk and set it up. And
thanks to Lorne for the
gas to power these
moves.
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