Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.08.2007, Síða 20

38_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 1_007_ARTICLE/STREET CULTURE
So, you’re wandering around bustling down-
town Reykjavík, dodging prams, nibbling harð-
fiskur, running into everyone you know and
enjoying the vibrant street culture on a typically
sunny Icelandic summer’s day… Hang on, a
couple of things wrong with that sentence.
Firstly, this summer has been unusually temper-
ate: don’t rely on it. It seems that this year the
Atlantic jet-stream has become confused and
is sending all the ‘normal’ Icelandic summer
weather further south, to the lucky folks in the
U.K. The second wrong piece of information is
the bit about street culture. What street culture?
And by street culture I don’t mean kids running
around with spray cans “expressing themselves”
under the cover of night – that kind of culture
is thriving. I’m talking about public interaction,
shared humour, strangers smiling together, the
street performers.
Desperately Bare Streets
Being the exploding tourist hub that it is, Reyk-
javík has a ridiculously low number of street
performers working downtown. Why? Go
to any other European capital and you’ll find
them: booming voices, with a growing circle
of people around them cracking one liners at
the expense of the lonely volunteer, standing in
the middle with his eyes closed while holding
the chainsaw in one hand, a rubber chicken
in the other, you get the picture. Why doesn’t
this happen here? Where are the statue people,
the fire-twirlers, the beat poets, the jugglers?
Some cities have a whole industry based on
these people. Despite the obvious reasons why
street performers would avoid Iceland during
the winter, there is no concrete reason why
the streets are so desperately bare during the
summer. And thanks to the jet stream, what a
great summer to be performing.
A street performer is someone who engages
in some form of public entertainment, music,
dance, acrobatics, visual art, mime, for a pedes-
trian audience and usually receives a monetary
donation. The audience may be stationary or
passing. The stationary audience will usually be
watching a circle show which is around 5–15
minutes long and the passing audience might
catch a couple of minutes of a 1–2 hour busk-
ing session. The odd lone guitarist sitting on a
mini-amp qualifies as a street performer, so does
the chalk artist drawing on the pavement, so
does the balloon bender, the circus performer,
the statue people etc.
They’ve been around since recorded history
began. There is evidence of busking during the
Roman times and the Chinese are believed to
have had travelling acrobats as far back as 4000
years ago. Performers add colour and life to a
city; they encourage public interaction and also
give shoppers a chance to re-vitalise during their
busy day. So, the big question, where are they
in Reykjavík?
The Answer is Sadly,
Nowhere to be Seen
I can count on one hand the regular performers
here. In fact, half of one of my hands. Wally
the clown has been bravely flying the banner
in Lækjatorg since his arrival in Iceland a year
ago. His circle shows have brought out smiles
in both summer and, yes, winter and whenever
his name is mentioned most people have some
memory of his wild, sometimes dangerous hu-
mour. The other bloke is a guitarist who has
been performing all over the city for many, many
years. He goes by the name of Jojo and can
often been seen in Kolaportið on the weekends.
And that’s about it for the regulars. I see a hole
in the industry.
Hitt Húsið came up with a brilliant idea to fill
this void while encouraging the younger genera-
tions to find their own forms of self-expression
on the streets. Founded in 1991, Hitt Húsið is
an information and culture centre for young
people, aged 16–25 years. It is run by the Youth
and Sports Council of Reykjavík City. Icelandic
high schools take their summer break during
the months of June, July and August and the
city council has found various ways to keep the
students occupied during this time. Hitt Húsið
developed a programme of street theatre for
teenagers where groups train for six to eight
weeks in various theatrical and circus skills with
a professional coach, then take these skills to
the streets every Friday during the summer.
So, you might notice oddly dressed youngsters
parading around, pulling attention, brightening
the city centre with their wild antics. This has
helped breathe some life into Reykjavík but
these groups are still what you might call the
apprentices of street performance. They have
little experience, big ideas and small budgets.
They may one day become buskers of the future
but are for now basically just having fun on their
holiday. A great learning experience but not the
street performance that has made places like
Covent Garden, and Fisherman’s Wharf the hot
spots that they are today.
Unfriendly Conditions
A street performer is primarily entertaining, but
of course they have to pay bills like everyone
else, so the big difference between a street
performer and someone in a more organised
street event is the way that they get paid. A
big part of the skill, and possibly the most
rewarding part, is how to get people to fill
your hat. The age old phrase, ‘its not what
you do its how you do it’, really makes sense
when you’re dealing with a voluntary audience
off of the street.
It’s not as if there are no people to perform
for here, especially during the summer. Tourism
brings over 370,000 people to the country
every year, and that’s rapidly increasing, and
64.7% of those come during the summer.
And, stop me if I’m wrong, I think a good
99% of those would take a walk downtown
once or twice. Cruise ships frequently dock,
92 in the year 2005 bringing another 55 thou-
sand people to Iceland, and these numbers
are always increasing. There are some classic
performance spots too, pitches that some
international professionals might cringe to see
empty every day.
There are a number of reasons why street
performers wouldn’t want to work in Reykjavík.
The reality is that this climate is not friendly to
outdoor entertainers. No one wants to perform
in freezing winds in front of an audience of
two who don’t want to be outside watch-
ing a performance in freezing winds. Then
the population here will not guarantee you a
good audience (and therefore pay) for every
show. Then there’s the fact that Icelanders are
notorious with their credit cards and it can be
rare to find a local with spare cash in the back
pocket. Then of course there’s the fact that a
lot of Icelanders don’t even know what the
hell street performance is, let alone how to
react to it. But what do good performers do
when faced with an obstacle? Adapt.
A city is not a city without people connecting
with one another. If that can only occur across
a counter with the exchange of the credit card,
then this city is rapidly creating an isolated
population. Everyone knows what a valuable
role our open community spaces fill – how these
spaces allow people to interact and share ideas.
Every community needs a place for its citizens
to gather. We are social creatures. Positive,
community building street level activities, like
street performance, need to be encouraged. A
city which encourages street performers is one
which truly cares for its people. I can only say
that weather and lack of knowledge are the two
biggest reasons that international performers
don’t visit during the summer. As for Iceland-
ers, I really don’t know. Maybe global warming
might help boost this industry in the future. For
the meantime, enjoy your shopping.
Performers add colour
and life to a city; they
encourage public inter-
action and also give shop-
pers a chance to re-vital-
ise during their busy day.
So, the big question, where
are they in Reykjavík?
It’s a Lonely Old Town
Text by Nick Candy Photo by Gulli
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