Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2015, Blaðsíða 10

10
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2015
Politics | Bright?Culture | Night, it's so great!
The end of the summer is upon
us, and concluded as per tradition
with the festivities at Culture Night,
which had a reported 120,000 at-
tendees. That’s almost half the coun-
try, so we imagine that any part of
Iceland that wasn’t Reykjavík was a
barren wasteland. In the aftermath
of the massive, car-free festival: much
grumbling about the use of drones
(the non-lethal kind). Apparently sev-
en drones were buzzing over Culture
Night, and there are as yet no safety
regulations for their use, much to the
consternation of the Icelandic Drone
Association. In related news, there is
an Icelandic Drone Association.
If you were upset about the re-
cent killing of a baby seal at the
Reykjavík Family Park and zoo, Hús-
dýragarðurinn, you weren’t alone. In
fact, even the zoo’s directors believe
it’s a dumb practice, but claim they are
bound by law to put down wild ani-
mals that have been raised by humans.
And they’re actively petitioning the
government to have this law changed.
Many Icelanders, and all baby seals in
captivity, eagerly await such changes.
In more serious news, word of
Iceland’s participation in interna-
tional sanctions against Russia has
finally reached the country, resulting
in Russia imposing its own embargo
on Icelandic products. As Russia buys
a lot of fish from us, there was much
wailing and gnashing of teeth from
our captains of industry in the field of
fish export. However, in an extensive
and pretty blunt interview, Foreign
Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson ba-
sically told the haters to deal with it
and “have a sense of social responsi-
bility,” rather than “thinking foremost
about their own profits.”
Things could be getting slightly
better for people who seek asylum in
Iceland. First of all, because the town
of Akureyri has announced to the
government that it wants more
asylum seekers. Iceland’s second city
up north is requesting to host up to 50
of them, noting that their past experi-
ences with asylum seekers have been
very positive. On a broader level, new
legislation soon to be introduced could
end the practice of arresting asylum
seekers who arrive with false docu-
mentation—which is pretty much
what international law requires. Yay
us! We’re doing the bare minimum!
The national church has been
pretty unhappy lately. They’ve
complained they cannot function if
the government doesn’t raise their
So, what’s so special about yet another
Icelandic festival, you ask? Well, Men-
ningarnótt (or “Culture Night”) marks
Reykjavík’s anniversary, and is cel-
ebrated every year on August 18 (or the
following Saturday). Large organiza-
tions, like museums and corporations,
stage and sponsor events on the day,
but anyone can get creative and regis-
ter their own. You can even apply for a
small grant from the city to help make
yours as great as possible.
Júlíus’s garden
comes alive
I started my Menningarnótt early.
Arriving at Vitastígur 17, I could hear
faint sounds of vintage Bob Marley
wafting through the air. Stepping
through the garden gates, I found out
why. Resident Júlíus Ólafsson was
celebrating Menningarnótt’s 20th an-
niversary by opening his backyard and
shed for any dub fans that wandered
by. The turntables were in his kitchen,
the sound system in the garden shed.
An audience had yet to form, but the
whole day lay ahead.
”I’ve never taken part in Mennin-
garnótt before, but this year I decided
to bring this garden alive,” Júlíus told
me, adding that he was expecting a few
guest DJs to take turns on his decks
later in the day.
Like a box of chocolates
The city centre had been transformed
into a pedestrian area for Menningar-
nótt, and walking down towards Klap-
parstígur I ran into another kind of
party. An entire intersection had been
covered with grass, a huge disco ball
hanging in the air above. Not even the
cold rain that was beginning to pour
could stop the two dozen people who
were already dancing with abandon,
smiling at onlookers.
”The best thing about tonight is
that you can find a surprise behind any
corner,” said Rósa, 33, as she danced
on the freshly laid grass with her
young son. “After walking for about
fifteen minutes, I had already enjoyed
two free coffees, cookies and some
kleinur.”
Speaking of food on Menningar-
nótt, it was so abundant that you
couldn’t get hungry even if you tried.
There were pop-up cafés in backyards
and on side streets, there were twelve
hundred kleinur on Skólavörðustígur
(courtesy of an oil company), there
were chefs frying burgers on Bankas-
træti all day long. Although the queues
were long, there was no question peo-
ple would be fed. Way too much, as it
were.
And, to sate that
spiritual hunger for
awe and surprise,
one could find ev-
erything from a
storefront window rock show on
Laugavegur, to free beard trimmings
and whiskey at a barbershop on Ves-
turgata.
The latter seemed to be in great
demand, I noted as I approached Ves-
turgata. Indeed, there were quite a few
bearded fellows queuing for a trim at
the doors of Rakarastofa Ragnars &
Harðar, a 60-year-old Reykjavík es-
tablishment. “We’ve been packed all
day,” barbershop employee Sindri Þór
Hilmarsson told me. “We’ve staged
smaller promotional events at differ-
ent locations in the past, but never at
the shop. For this Menningarnótt, we
decided to go all the way and invite our
guests to enjoy old-school beard trim-
ming, musicians performing Icelandic
music from the 40s and 50s and a bit
of whiskey. We wanted to spread some
joy.”

Runners and riders
At 8:45 on the morning of Menningar-
nótt, as the day’s events and parties
were still being prepared around the
city, the Reykjavík Marathon com-
menced. As I made my way down to
Lækjargata in the afternoon, the last
of the tired runners were scrambling
across the finish line, a large crowd of
onlookers applauding them along.
After being distracted for a min-
ute by a renaissance-outfitted improv
group that walked past, I made my way
to the Reykjavík Custom Bike Show at
Naustin, where a few hundred motor-
cycles were on display, around 40 of
them custom jobs. The show started
with all the gathered
bikes firing up at the
same time, in mem-
ory of fellow bikers
that have passed
away, followed by
a performance from the first of three
rock bands the bikers had booked for
their party.
“This is like the diamond of all bike
shows in Iceland”, said Halldór Gun-
narsson, one of the event’s organizers.
He seemed thrilled to see so many peo-
ple gathered to gawk at the bikes—ask-
ing questions, making comments—and
took special pride in the custom units.
“You can’t put a price on these custom
made bikes—they are made of the rid-
ers’ heart and soul,” he told me.
Come out and play!
The people of Reykjavík have different
feelings and memories of Menningar-
nótt, the event often serving a plethora
of different roles over the years. As one
souvenir shop saleswoman remarked:
“Back when I was a teenager, me and
my friends used to load our rucksacks
with beer, and go out to drink. But
now, I think I’ll just go home and let
others party.” Others tell the same
story, of progressing from wanton par-
tying to careful cultural appreciation
to carting their kids between candy-
floss stalls to not going at all, as they
entered adulthood.
For visitors to Reykjavík, however,
this might be the best way to taste ev-
erything the city has to offer—food for
both body and soul—in the span of a
single day.
At least, that’s what I did.

You know that dream where you can run a marathon,
then eat dozens of free donuts, then go watch a rock con-
cert with a bunch of bikers, followed by a performance
of traditional Icelandic 50s music in a barber shop, all
capped with observing a patch of green grass growing
out of the asphalt? Well. In Reykjavík, that’s no dream—
they call it Menningarnótt, and experiencing the city
through it feels like opening every window on your ad-
vent calendar in one go.
Words by Sini Koskenseppä
Photos by Roman Gerasymenko
By Paul Fontaine
NEWS
IN
BRIEF
Continues Over...
Menningarnótt:
Reykjavík’s
Playground
For The People
The new Finn in town
loves on Culture Night!
Not even the cold
rain that was begin-
ning to pour could
stop the two dozen
people who were
already dancing with
abandon, smiling at
onlookers.