Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2012, Blaðsíða 50

50
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2012 Dave Clarke will be playing at Þýski barinn on July 21 with local artists Futur-
regrapher, Fu Kaisha, Ruxpin, Hendrik and Exos. See www.midi.is for more
details and tickets.
Grænn Kostur | Skólavördustíg 8b
101 Reykjavík | Sími: 552 2028
www.graennkostur.is
Opening hours:
Mon - Sat. 11:30 - 21:00
Sun. 13:00 - 21:00
The Green Choice
Premium Quality Vegetarian Food
• Vegetarian dishes
• Vegan dishes
• Bakes and soups
• Wholesome cakes
• Raw food deserts
• Coffee and tea
Grænn Kostur is the perfect downtown choice
when you are looking for wholesome great tasting meals.
Vegetarian Dish of the Day
1.590 kr.
The sun is shining, music is playing,
toddlers are playing on the seesaw,
teenagers are picnicking and tourists
are taking pictures of the colourful
graffiti on the walls. Hjartagarðurinn
(“The Heart Garden”) is one of the
most appealing spots in 101 Reykja-
vík, especially on a sunny day. In one
respect, then, the park's caretakers
have succeeded in making it a free
communal space, but there's still a lot
that needs to be addressed and un-
derstood about this once abandoned
lot.
We met up with Tómas Magnússon, Tanya
Pollock and Örn Tönsberg, three of the
people instrumental in cleaning up and
reviving the park, which rests between
Laugavegur and Hverfisgata. Sitting at a
table by the heart-pattern of bricks that
gives the park its name, they catch me up
about the spot's past, present and future.
The land is privately owned by Reginn,
a property management firm that owns
many plots and buildings in downtown
Reykjavík. Before 2008, it had plans to
build a mall on the lot—seven storeys tall
and four storeys underground—but those
plans were scrapped after the financial
crash. The empty lot in the middle of
downtown area was mostly abandoned,
only frequented by local graffiti artists
who sprayed their works ranging from
playful doodles to poignant social com-
mentaries on the huge, barren walls.
Soon enough though, other people
started to notice the abandoned lot.
“We saw the potential and we wanted to
be here with our kids, but it was totally
trashed,” Tanya tells me. And that's where
their project began. Last summer, Tanya,
Tómas, Örn and others began their efforts
to transform the space into a community
park. Because Hjartagarðurinn is on pri-
vate property, the city is not responsible
for its upkeep. So the team organised
group clean-ups, removing the trash
and broken glass that lay strewn about
the area. Slowly, walls were torn down, a
stage was built, benches and tables were
brought in, a little playground was set up—
and their dream of creating a communal
park where people of all ages and cultures
comes together was slowly realised. “This
is a sanctuary from the capitalist environ-
ment we live in,” Örn says.
Tanya sees Hjartagarðurinn as a sort of
reverse story from that of Austurvöllur, the
public square outside Parliament, which
has become associated with protests and
negative energy. This is a positive space,
which really reveals some of the good
things that have come out of the financial
collapse. It's a story of hope and change.
Indeed, Jakob Frímann, an advocate for
downtown Reykjavík, who once led a no-
tolerance campaign against graffiti in the
city, has now become a big proponent for
the art form and the park.
As for the future, it's a bit unclear.
Though Reginn has been supportive of
the entire project, it still owns the prop-
erty. For now, however, the team is more
concerned with the immediate future.
With little help from the city, they're still
organising volunteer clean-ups to clear
the cigarette butts and broken glass that
accumulate in the park after every week-
end. But they want to remedy the cause,
not just fix the symptoms. They hope that
the Hjartagarðurinn will instil a sense of
community and encourage people to take
more responsibility for how they treat it.
It's a free space, a shared space and
(we think) the best place to spend a sunny
day in 101. But it's far more than a pleas-
ant park—it's a community. For it to survive
and thrive, everyone needs to cooperate
and take responsibility to keep it up.
Two years ago Reykjavík filmgoers were
famished. ‘Inception’ was just about the
only half-decent Hollywood blockbuster
around and the cinema owners of Reyk-
javík were becoming less ambitious with
each passing week. Regnboginn, the
only downtown cinema still standing, was
about to close. Of course they blamed
their shortcomings on the public—a public
they had raised on increasingly bad films.
But that summer a change finally occurred
and out of a random Facebook movement
the long-discussed idea of a Reykjavík art
cinema was finally realised: Regnboginn
stayed in business, albeit with a different
name and as a non-profit art cinema.
Many of us had doubts about the name:
Cinema Paradise promised too much. But
while it’s far from perfect, it’s still a sanctu-
ary for those of us who believe that watch-
ing movies should be about more than just
buying popcorn. And now, in the middle
of summer we can choose between three
French films and there's not even a festival
going on. But the French have always had
some presence, with a French film fest ev-
ery January for more than a decade. And
while I always dreamed of festivals focus-
ing on more countries, I never imagined
that dream would come true so often the
same winter, with a German, Polish and
Bollywood festival. For the second sum-
mer running, you can also see a selection
of Icelandic classics with English subtitles.
Bíó Paradís manager Hrönn Sveinsdóttir
tells me they showed some 400 films from
40 countries last year and she stresses
they’re not only interested in art films, as
demonstrated by festivals for reggae films,
biker films and mountain films. “We want
everybody to come, older and younger
crowds too. There's room for everything
and everyone,” she says. “The only rule is
the films shouldn't be boring.”
When it first opened you might find
yourself in a lonely, scarcely populated cin-
ema hall, but that has gradually changed,
the attendances rising by some 30 % be-
tween years, showing that given time we'll
learn to appreciate the variety that world
cinema has to offer. While most cinemas
are located in shopping malls, this one is in
a cosy place of its own where you can also
get beer or coffee and hang out and play
games with friends. Note that the eclec-
tic couches, tables and chairs have been
graciously donated from households from
all over town, adding a quirky touch to the
place.
We could write another 500 words
about the things we like about Bíó Paradís
and yet another 500 about the things that
could be improved, but it’s here and we
are damn grateful for it, even when it’s
sunny outside.
Special | Best Of Reykjavík - Best Place To Spend A Sunny Day: Hjartagarðurinn Special | Best Of Reykjavík - Best Place on a Rainy Day: Bíó Paradís
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Hope and change at the heart garden
áSGEIR H. INGÓLFSSON
ALÍSA KALYANOVA
ELI PETzOLD
ELI PETzOLD
The Feast After
The Famine
Best place on a sunny day
Hjartagarðurinn, Hverfisgata, 101 E5
Best place on a rainy day
Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata 54, 101 F6