Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2011, Side 34

EIMEAR FITZGERALD
JULIA STAPLES
A!alstræti 2 / 101 Reykjavík / tel. 511 1212 / sjavarkjallarinn.is
FEEL WELCOM E
Fischersund
Vesturgata
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ti
Tryggvagata
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torg
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At the SEAFOOD CELLAR RESTAURANT we place New
Nordic kitchen in the forefront. We are a seasonal
restaurant that worships everything that Icelandic
nature brings us as well as getting a few things from
Scandinavia. We only use the freshest and the best
nature brings us. We, and our ambitious, productive
friends collect and produce the raw materials and
bring it home. We serve it with love and respect for
the ingredients and the environment around us.
We do it our way.
34
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BOSTON BAR
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TEL: 517 7816
OPENING HOURS:
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2011
Galway City, Ireland. As I make my
way through its winding streets on
a characteristically dull, damp day,
I find the stubborn voice of my for-
mer university lecturer ringing in
my ears. “You can’t research poten-
tial,” he used to say. It was some-
thing on which we never agreed. So
I was both energised and intrigued
at the prospect of meeting two in-
spiring women completely focused
on doing just that.
Kathy Scott and Mari Kennedy, the
passionate engines behind ground-
breaking, cross-national initiative ‘the
ireland:iceland project,’ are in Galway
for the screening of three Icelandic
documentaries as part of Galway Film
Fleadh. Joining the motley group of
Irish creatives for the event are intrepid
Icelanders Hei!a Helgadóttir of the
Best Party, film director Gaukur Úlfars-
son and producer Björn Ófeigsson, in
Ireland to promote their work, and join
the debate on creative responses to cri-
sis or Kreppa.
PARALLEL LINES
According to its navigators, the purpose
of the project is to generate conversa-
tion between Irish and Icelandic artists,
social entrepreneurs, innovators and
new economists with the end of finding
creative ways of moving forward from
our individual post-crisis twilight zones.
“It started with an investigative hunch
inviting Irish and Icelandic people to il-
luminate the times we live in,” explains
project founder Kathy Scott. “We had
an interest in the shared and separate
story of our two islands perched on
the edge of Europe. I was fascinated
with the ancient links between the two
countries and thought it was a strong
jump off point for a conversation be-
tween us.”
Undoubtedly, links between the
two countries run much deeper than
a C and an E. From our unsympathetic
Atlantic location to our colonial pasts,
Irish and Icelandic peoples share a
well-documented history of resilience
and buoyancy in the face of social up-
heaval. Thanks to the unwitting depo-
sition of a hefty chunk of Irish DNA to
the Icelandic gene pool via marauding
Viking raiders, we share a strong ge-
netic link. There is also an intellectual
and linguistic connection via the Irish
monastics and scholars who reportedly
visited Icelandic shores on their Atlan-
tic voyages. However, in modern times
it’s been more a chronicle of economic
boom and bust, political ineptitude and
ecological mismanagement that have
provided the premise for our parallels.
FROM KREPPA COMES
CREATIVITY
“For a long time we had had been mak-
ing trips and expeditions between both
islands, talking to people and instilling
the idea among creative communities,”
says Kathy. “After a year of this we just
decided to dive in, roll up our sleeves
and bring a bunch of artists, politicians,
catalysts and creatives together and
explore WHAT IF?”
It seems to have been a determined
and dogged effort that, last February,
culminated in the project's first major
exploratory event on a chilly weekend
in Dublin. The Northern Lights Obser-
vatory brought intrepid Icelanders Jón
Gnarr and Einar Örn Benediktsson of
the Best Party, Gu!jón Már Gu!jóns-
son of the Ministry of Ideas, and Kristín
Gunnarsdóttir of the Icelandic Design
Centre, among others, to Irish shores
for a four day ‘collaboratory’ with some
of Ireland’s top artists, economists and
social innovators. A weekend ‘think-in,’
aimed at investigating questions of cul-
tural identity and transformation, was
held in Townley Hall, just outside Dub-
lin. “We wanted to explore what it feels
like to be alive in Ireland and Iceland
at this moment in time,” Kathy explains,
her eyes lighting up. “It was incredible,
witnessing all these amazing minds
and innovators jumping up out of their
bunk-beds in their pyjamas at eight in
the morning, thinking how are we going
to change the world!”
Mari Kennedy muses over her
thoughts on the process. “I suppose
my focus is more on wider social trans-
formation and change, while Kathy’s is
more on developing distinct art proj-
ects.” Kathy added that the project was
constantly shifting between the two
poles, “sometimes the drive is about art
and inspiration—other times it’s about
society and disruption.” Mari believed
that the creative community needed to
be brought into political and social de-
bate and policy making in a much wider
way. “It’s about drawing in the creativity
that gets pushed to the margins, about
moving from an ‘I’ towards a ‘we’ per-
spective, and embracing the wisdom of
the crowd.”
EXPLORATION FOR
EXPLORATION’S SAKE
And it seems the movement is gather-
ing pace. “It’s like one big crazy experi-
ment,” Kathy expresses, “but one that
can produce an unlimited amount of
meaningful projects that challenge the
status quo, provoke and inspire.”
So where is all this energy being di-
rected? One project already underway
is the setting up of an artist exchange
programme, with plans for residencies
in remote lighthouses, ancient sites and
disused urban spaces on both shores.
However while the explorations have
already kick-started a series of cre-
ative projects, both women are keen to
stress the fact that ‘ireland:iceland’ is
not a static beast with a specific or sole
direction. “We are interested in design
thinking—not end gaming where this
can go exactly,” Kathy offers while Mari
adds “I guess we see ourselves more as
facilitators, inviting people from both
islands, and beyond, to come and ex-
plore ideas, and make the connections
that can spark individual’s ideas into
collective action.”
Attention is also currently moving
towards the development of a digital
project with top Irish and New York
based digital artists. “We are hoping
to bring them to Reykjavík to take the
conversation further and share ideas
with creatives on the ground there.” As
is to be expected, this large-scale proj-
ect is extremely ambitious, with a focus
on engaging people in real time, real
life conversation in a fun and innovative
way.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
With a myriad of think-ins, pop-ups,
laboratories and salons on the hori-
zon for this hugely ambitious project, it
must be difficult for its founders to find
time to stand back and assess where
it’s all headed, and see where it’s come
from. “Sometimes I look at all of this
from the future, as a interesting period
in time when Irish and Icelandic people
hooked up and transferred knowledge,
ideas and spirit and tried to make the
world a more interesting and braver
place.”
I suggest you keep an eye on your
local lighthouse.
When Ireland Met Iceland
Connecting two islands, one lighthouse at a time
Iceland | Ireland
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