Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2013, Blaðsíða 8

Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2013, Blaðsíða 8
Like when your parents tell you at dinner that they like their guppies more than you? Well, maybe not quite that surprising. For- mer Minister of Education, Science and Culture Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who is the leader of the opposition Left-Green party, brought up this change in parliament and asked what the reason for this change was, and what exactly the new government understands national culture to be, as op- posed to culture in general. Illugi Gun- narsson, the current minister for education and culture, replied that he would not de- fine the term national culture and that the reason for the portfolio transfer was that the prime minister was really interested in national culture, whatever that may be. You know who else was really interested in national culture? The spectre of fascism was alluded to by the leader of the opposition Bright Future party, as part of the gloriously unfocused parliamentary discussion that ensued, where MPs brought up Latvian and Dan- ish folk songs, Polish fried dough, and the prevalence of flatness in Icelandic baked goods. I assume the politicians were hun- gry and wanted to dance. Perhaps they had eaten some special brownies? Probably not as they are not part of the Icelandic national baked goods heritage, which you can tell by their non-flatness. If you want to get an inkling of what the new government means by national cul- ture, you have to look at the organisational charts for the ministries. Oh good, nothing gets me more excited than govern- ment organisational charts. The Prime Minister took over a bunch of things that could broadly be construed to be national heritage, i.e. archaeology, historic buildings, ancient manuscripts, though with some weird extras like farm names. If I want to name my goat farm Antichrist Superfarm, the prime minister has to give his permission? Sort of, at least from the ‘Place Name Committee’ which has been moved from the Ministry of Education and Culture to the Prime Minister's Office. Whether Sig- mundur Davíð will personally approve ev- ery last farm, street or island name with a signature of his pen depends on how meg- alomaniacal he gets. I suppose we will know if a new volcanic island appears and he christens it Sigmundur's Pen Island. In case you were wondering, the committee that approves baby names is still a part of the Ministry of the Interior. So that's where I go if I want to name my baby Antichrist Superman? Yes, though I doubt they will approve it, as neither name is on the list. Yes, there is a list of approved baby names, but that is a subject for a future column. It was not just politicians who were startled by the organisational change, but also art- ists and writers. Most spoke out on Face- book, but several wrote articles about it. The most widely-read one is by novelist, editor and columnist Guðmundur Andri Thorsson, who noted the influence of Jó- nas frá Hriflu. Wasn't that a character in John Carter of Mars? You are probably thinking of Thuvia of Ptarth. Jónas frá Hriflu was the leader of the Progressive Party in the ‘30s and ‘40s, which is now led by Sigmundur Davíð. Jónas had strong opinions on culture and did things like write a fairly nationalistic history of Iceland which was taught to schoolchildren for seven decades, and or- ganised an exhibition of art he considered to be fake art. Not to harp on this, but that sounds like something You- Know-Who would do. As far as I can remember Voldemort nev- er did anything like that. However there is an old tale, probably apocryphal, that the King of Denmark, then also King of Iceland, asked Jónas if he thought he was Mussolini. Guðmundur Andri's point was that once you start creating a distinction between "culture" and "national culture," the risk is that you start considering that which is not "national" to be "anti- Icelandic." Lock your doors, the Fas- cists are coming! Calm, calm, the secret police is not com- ing for your abstract art collection. How- ever, as journalist Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson pointed out on his blog, it is worrisome insofar as it could indicate a nationalistic turn by the current government, which goes with the recent decision of the new Foreign Minister to end accession talks with the European Union. No one is seri- ously expecting to see Blackshirts march- ing up and down the street anytime soon, but it would be nice if the politicians in power would not do and say things that put you in mind of He-Who-Shall-Not- Be-Named. After any election there are always surprising developments. One of those after the last election in Iceland was that the new Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, added a "national culture" portfolio to the responsibilities of the prime ministership. Like with any surprise announcement, no one quite knew what to make of it at first. So What's This National Culture I Keep Hearing About? by Kári Tulinius Iceland | FAQ Ari Trausti writes regularly about geology and hiking on these pages. He is the author of many books and ran for president last year. An article on the Reykjavík Domestic Airport printed in issue 8 of the Grapevine needs clarification. First of all, the boring, cliché commentary about a plane crashing into the parliament is long since a useless one. Planes approaching an airport can crash into im- portant buildings in cities the world over. An aircraft passenger, a dead parliamentarian or any dead citi- zen due to an air crash are all equally badly off and, in principle, equally heavily mourned. Second, a long article on the airport in the only large English news media in Iceland should address at least three issues, besides the need for space to build more housing within the city. Please note that the city’s area and distribution of buildings is no accident. It has grown for decades according to a city planning policy im- ported from our Nordic neighbours in the 1960's. By now the deed is done and we have to be careful about how we try to rectify the many mistakes that have been made. 1) It’s our Central Station The airport has the same function as a central hub for trains has in any big city in the majority of countries. For hundreds of thousands annually, the centrally located airport facilitates business, official errands, tourism and trips made for medical purposes, for Ice- landers, East-Greenlanders and the Faroese. If you are concerned with the space it occupies, think about the long lanes with ten, twenty or more parallel train tracks cutting through the world's cities. You simply wouldn’t close a capital’s Central Station. 2) It’s access to our medical centre Iceland’s medical facilities are concentrated chiefly in Reykjavík, which brings heavy traffic to the city. This traffic includes emergency transport, which is far from being done only by helicopters, as well as a large number of visits by patients seeking all sorts of consultation and aid, not only high-tech operations, as the article implies. People are entitled to easy ac- cess to medical facilities for their needs. Our Green- landic friends are also happy to have the Reykjavík landing strips when they need some medical assis- tance. So will future seamen and passengers in high Arctic waters. 3) It’s an important workplace A great number of people work at the airport and in businesses related to the facilities, services and the air traffic control. It is one of the largest workplaces in Reykjavík. Some 5-7,000 future apartments do not automatically justify a rather sudden closure of im- portant businesses and workplaces. Finally, the proposed Hólmsheiði airport is expen- sive and almost certainly less suitable than the one in Reykjavík. The idea of an electric train to Keflavík Airport has to be based on a far larger population than we now have in Southwest Iceland. It might ap- pear one distant day to ease the car traffic between Keflavík and Reykjavík. Environmental issues related to directing all air traffic to Keflavik are far from clear. Maybe the time may come when vertical take-off and landing aeroplanes will dominate the domestic traffic, but until then there is no better solution to the "airport dispute" than keeping the airport in town with all the important functions it has had and will have for decades to come. The Reykjavík Airport: There’s More To It A response to “So What's This Airport Dispute I Keep Hearing About?” Illustration: Inga María Brynjarsdóttir 8The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 9 — 2013 Available in the following stores: Heilsuhúsið, Around Iceland, Kraum and Sóley Natura Spa. Offer ends 31st August 2013. Fall in love with your skin... powerful & pure wild Naturally pure skin care made in Iceland Sóley summer offer in selected stores: 20% off Loved skin is happier skin. Be loved, be happy, be Sóley. Organic luxury eyGLÓ pure organic moisture & GLÓey purifying exfoliator with wild Icelandic herbswww.facebook.com/soleyorganics
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