Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.08.2008, Page 30

30 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 12—2008
Icelandic language courses.
New courses starting
August 25.
www.framvegis.is
Step into
the Viking Age
Experience Viking-Age Reykjavík at the
new Settlement Exhibition. The focus of the
exhibition is an excavated longhouse site which
dates from the 10th century ad. It includes
relics of human habitation from about 871, the
oldest such site found in Iceland.

Multimedia techniques bring Reykjavík’s
past to life, providing visitors with insights
into how people lived in the Viking Age, and
what the Reykjavík environment looked like
to the first settlers.
The exhibition and
museum shop are open
daily 10–17
Aðalstræti 16
101 Reykjavík / Iceland
Phone +(354) 411 6370
www.reykjavikmuseum.is
ARTICLE BY Ben H MuRRAY — pHoToS BY gAS
But how do these barriers, or the perceptions of
difficulties in moving to, and living in, Europe’s
largest wilderness manifest themselves from the
point of view of people who’ve made the move
and work in industries common to Iceland’s new-
er generations? With an immigrant population of
about 23,000 (7.6% of the total population), a fig-
ure that puts Iceland 154th out of 193 UN member
countries in a recent World Population Policies
study, newer residents form a significant part of
the Icelandic people and their culture without
swamping the economy. As a country, it’s in an
enviable position compared to some European
neighbours.
Ironically, the know-it-alls who trot out tired
clichés about the country are not far from the
truth, for as our three examples show, most people
are lured to Iceland by something relating to one
of the trinity of environment (and location), love
or money and find at least one of these subjects
to be a serious bone of contention, having made
the move. The idle speculators aren’t far from the
mark but maybe this is a universal truth about hu-
man migration.
Alex Zaklynsky, an American artist who
was lured to the North Atlantic by his passion of
art and the carrot of a residency with SIM (the
Association of Icelandic Visual Artists), certainly
agrees with the idea that money and the high
cost of living is a major factor in deciding on a
stay in Iceland. “The worst thing about living in
Iceland and being an artist are taxes and if I could
change one thing it would be to have lower taxes,”
explains Alex whose gallery, The Lost Horse, is a
model success story on how a mixture of artistic
ability and entrepreneurship can pay dividends in
a small country – if you could do two things well,
rather than just the one, it’s likely that nobody else
in such a small place will be able to match you.
“There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit here…” is how
Ian Watson, another American now living in Reyk-
javík, accurately described the market for special-
ist skill sets, particularly in the fields of media and
art. Work out your finances, find a niche, work
hard at it and the chances of success are high –
much higher than in most other capital cities.
But the focus on money and tax is also, to
some extent, tied to the choice of job for some-
one making the move – learn the language (ac-
cepted as essential for working in Iceland for any
length of time) and you could potentially find a
cosy, well-paid desk job at a bank or energy com-
pany and such matters need never trouble your
bank balance. But those with a more precarious
income tied to the fluctuations of the creative
economy will obviously find having a large per-
centage of your money taken by the government
harder. Value Added Tax, levied at a mere 17.5% in
the UK, is significantly higher at 24.5% leading to
the number one observation about Iceland – that
it’s an expensive place to live – having a greater
impact on everyone’s lives as fuel prices and the
current economic climate further drive up prices
of everyday goods and services. This is particu-
larly hard to stomach if the price of a painting, art
installation, gig ticket or album isn’t raised to com-
pensate but sticking rigidly to Iceland’s tax sys-
tem, which isn’t too complex and has a number of
incentives for certain industries, but a low tax al-
lowance is vital to avoid sticky situations. Getting
professional help is one thing that Alex Somers, a
musician and artist who moved from Baltimore,
USA, in 2005, recommends – he found starting his
own business forcibly clarified the legal situation:
“Since we started the publishing company – Moss
Stories – we have to have a lawyer, so he does ev-
erything now.” Starting a company to release an
album, organise gigs or publish artwork is a com-
mon way to channel creative efforts whilst keep-
ing everything legal and above board financially.
Aside from the long-standing issues of tax
and money, a problem shared by many Nordic
countries, there are many positive things that lure
Art and Ice – A Difficult Combination?
Three foreign artist who all live in Reykajvík to find out what exactly drew them to the country
ALEx SOMERS ARTIST AND MUSICIAN. ORIGINALLY FROM BALTIMORE, USA.
I’m a part of a band called Parachutes, and my boyfriend and I do art and music together with the name Riceboy
Sleeps. Lately I have been making an album with Parachutes, and we’re rehearsing as we’ll be touring the States from
mid-August to September 1st. I have also been preparing for a few art exhibitions coming up: one Riceboy Sleeps
exhibition on October 2nd at the White Chapel Gallery in London for the Concrete & Glass Art Festival, and one group
exhibition on October 16th at Gallery Turpentine as a part of the Sequences Art Festival. I just wish there was a RAW
food restaurant in Iceland!
WWW.RICEBOYSLEEPS.COM AND WWW.MYSPACE.COM/PARACHUTESMAKESONGS
ANDREAS CONSTANTINOu SINGER/SONGWRITER AND DANCE TEACHER. ORIGINALLY FROM CYPRUS.
I am currently the Head of Contemporary Dance at Klassiski Listdansskolinn and a contemporary dance tutor. I’ve
been coming to Iceland since 2004 and after my second visit I was offered a full time teaching contract, I was living in
London at the time and thought “why not leave this giant city and shake things up a bit”. I am also a singer/songwriter
and have just released my debut album, Fistful, which is being distributed by Kimi Records in Iceland. I love the open
space and I adore being in a city without feeling trapped - I would say that being here in Reykjavik, I feel much freer
then when I was living in London.
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ANDREASCONSTANTINOU
Pretty people, money and the
weather – ask most people about
Iceland and they’ll usually weave
you a story around these three
topics, touching on the freezing-
but-beautiful environment (it’s
Ice-land, right?) and how a round
of drinks requires a small bank
loan but, apparently, it’s worth
it because the women / men are
very good looking, with accents
like Björk and model features all
round.