Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.07.2004, Blaðsíða 10

by Eydís Björnsdóttir
CREATIVE FORCES ON THE LOOSE
Reykjavík City and Hitt Húsið have nurtured 18 different
creative groups this summer, enabling them to perform cultural and
creative work throughout the city. In order to gain the attention
of this Mother Goose, each group has provided a detailed applica-
tion which includes a work schedule and budgets for assessment.
The groups were then selected covering a broad spectrum of modern
culture. Without this innovative sponsorship, it is unlikely that the
participants would have been able to create their works and the
streets of Reykjavik would have been a good deal quieter on summer
days.
There are five groups consisting of
musicians, which included the Wind
Quartet, who performed classical
music and the Chamber Quartet
Krummi, who play dulcet hymns
while clad in black. Their collabora-
tion will end once the summer has
passed. But another group to focus
on classical music was Listalín,
with not only a soprano but also a
mezzosoprano in their midst, who
hope to continue their work subject
to continued funding. Then there
was the band Friends of Keli, who
oozed a laid back atmosphere with
jazz tunes and blues. They will keep
at it, playing at pubs on weekends,
as will the Demon Musicians (whose
name, Glymskrattarnir, happens
to be the Icelandic translation of a
jukebox) with their upbeat, swinging
melodies.
Hljóðgata is a solo project aimed at
enriching the theatre experience with
added sounds and video art who col-
laborated with The Street Theatre,
another youth program summer
group consisting of fifteen amateur
street actors prancing around the
streets in drunken pantomimes. The
Street Theatre will continue and ac-
cept projects offered to them.
The picked/lost strawberries are
a somewhat similar group that
performs art, painting and music in
the form of little happenings. They
plan on holding a mutual art exhibit
in the fall and foresee continuing
their co-operation in some form or
another.
Sons-in-Law of Jódís is a more
theatrically based group of four ac-
tors with the goal to do three plays
in six weeks. They’ll have no director
and no set, just the actors and three
playwrights. They might possibly
do other projects as a group in the
future, for they are all friends, two
of which are attending the school of
drama.

Landsleikur take a more traditional
approach and put up a production
of the play Dýrðlegt fjöldasjálfsmorð
by Arto Pasillinna. Two designers
are responsible for Dropped Stitch…
oopps…and display their design of
clothing in a more theatrical manner
than usual fashion shows do. They
will definitely continue work of their
label, which has apparently been
doing well in the Icelandic world of
fashion.
Always at the centre of attention
has been The Belly Dancing Fairies,
who have offered a clash of cultures
by performing unconventional belly
dances throughout the city. Equally
interesting have been the three
women of Artistic hearts, who have
created happenings such as the mak-
ing of enormous fruits and vegetables
to garland from trees.
The painter is a solo project, where
the artist displays her artwork at odd
places in Reykjavík, e.g. in an empty
shop window or a dark alleyway.
The group Samferða is a project of
warding off prejudice by using the
process of making a cartoon. They
aim to keep the group together
and hope to go on to other similar
projects. Malbik is a poetry group
determined to use unconventional
ways to distribute poetry to people.
Among their stratagems was the
writing of an impromptu poem with
chalk on the pave walk and later
offering shoppers of Hagkaup to
“taste” a poetry book they had on
sale. Bestikk is a group of four writers
who are in the process of writing
a novel collaboratively. They have
nothing planned for the future other
than finishing their novel.
And last but not least is The Reyk-
javík Grapevine, who have received
essential funding to establish our
relaunch this summer, but I’ll take
the liberty to assume that anyone
reading this already knows what that
is all about.
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One Farmer Stands Against
Kárahnjúkar
Landsvirkjun, the national power
company, has offered to pay five
farmers to vacate their land to
make way for a high tension
power line from Kárahnjúkur dam,
which is still under construction
in the north east of Iceland. All
but one, Guðmundur Ármannson,
has accepted. Mr. Ármannson
refuses to leave his land, stating
that Landsvirkjun hasn´t discussed
the matter with the farmers but
has instead just written checks and
assumed that they would leave.
He also believes that the dam will
damage the environment in the
east and that Landsvirkjun is in
violation of the farmer´s constitu-
tional rights. The plot thickens . . .
Media law (again)
After the presi-
dent refused to
sign the media
bill, the govern-
ment braced
themselves for
a referendum.
They then submitted a new media
law. Now, they have withdrawn
the idea of a media bill altogether.
Instead, they suggest forming a
committee on the constitution
which will look into abolishing the
presidential power.
Siamese twins separated
The blood circu-
latory system of
the twin sisters
María and Sara
were separated
in the womb
by laser in a
Belgian hospital.
This is the first
operation of its kind conducted on
Icelandic twins. The mother had
to spend 15 weeks in the hospital
after the operation, but the twins
were finally born and are in good
condition.
Head of Landsvirkjun decides
to continue with construction
The Nature Watch, a group which
campaigns for the preserva-
tion of nature and a more active
democracy, drew four flags to half
mast outside the headquarters
of Landsvirkjun, the company
responsible for destroying the
highlands. The head of Landsvirk-
jun came out and listened to their
qualms but decided to continue
with the construction anyway.
H
.S
.
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