Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2016, Page 47

Borganes is perhaps best known
as the last-chance gas and Bónus
stop before the long drive onward
to the remote Westfjords or the
north of Iceland. Passing through,
this diminutive town apptears to
have been dramatically sliced off
just past the local N1 station. Today,
though, Borgarnes will be different.
After parking outside of the
tourist information centre, Href-
na and I embark on a travel adven-
ture, past the gas station and gro-
cery stops, and into the city beyond.
Our first stop in Borgarnes is
Café Kyrrð (“Café Tranquility”),
which sits attached to the flower
and gift shop Blómasetrið. Svava
Víglundsdóttir, the owner, meets
us at the door, immediately intro-
ducing us to her dog, Pinocchio,
and a loitering cat named Amy
Winehouse. Svava is welcoming—
almost motherly—as we shake
hands and fawn over the animals.
Svava takes us through a gor-
geously decorated flower shop
brimming with treasures, into the
café. She sets rich, belly-warming
hot chocolates before us, follow-
ing this wonderful surprise with
waffles topped with whipped
cream, jam, and chocolate.
"Fairly dark
and very quiet"
Hrefna and I agree this place is
special not only because of its
unique and wellv -crafted deco-
rations, but because it isn’t try-
ing too hard to be Icelandic. The
focus is more on the general at-
mosphere, the Icelandic-ness of
which is provided by the sweeping
view from the window. Later, Svava
leads us through the rooms she
rents upstairs, the decorations of
which are also worldly and warm,
with views just as spectacular as
those on the lower floor.
With full stomachs and big
smiles, we head down the street to
Borgarfjörður museum. Guðrún
Jónsdóttir, the museum’s curator,
walks us through the current ex-
hibit, ‘Children for 100 years’. De-
signed by Snorri Freyr Hilmars-
son, a set designer, the museum
contains dark grey walls, painted
to mimic the pages of a scrap-
book. Photos of Icelandic children
throughout modern history are
arranged sequentially atop them.
Some of the photos even swing
open, revealing related artefacts.
The second part of the exhibit
begins with a child’s room in the
early 20th century style. The room
is fairly dark and very quiet, filled
with beds and woollen blankets,
obviously for a family rather than
a single child. “I always ask people
to be quiet for a few seconds,” says
Guðrún, “so they can hear how si-
lent it is in here, without the hum
of a refrigerator or the sound of the
television.” We let the silence settle
over us.
The next room is a sharp con-
trast—a modern child's room
filled with sleek IKEA furnish-
ings and toy dinosaurs. Discard-
ed clothing is artfully arranged
on the floor, so as to mimic the
whimsy of prepubescent outfit
changes. Guðrún tells us visitors
will often fold the clothes, not real-
izing their haphazard arrangement
is actually a part of the exhibit.
Adventures of birds
Next is the 'Adventures of Birds'
exhibit, also designed by Snorri.
Featuring a wide variety of birds,
the exhibit is another example of
Snorri and Guðrún's careful and in-
GRAPEVINE TRAVEL
(More Than) Drive-
Through Towns Pt. 1
Borgarnes Is
Worldly And Warm
By REBECCA CONWAY
Photos by HREFNA BJÖRG GYLFADÓTTIR
novative curation. The birds all face
the same direction, and a series of
mirrors washes into infinity, giving
us a literal bird’s eye view.
Upstairs in the museum is both
a library and an art exhibit. The
current exhibit features works by
Michelle Bird, an American artist
currently living in Borgarnes. In
the exhibit 'Beloved Borgarnes',
Michelle paints local residents
from photographs, residents she
has come to consider friends, even
family. She even painted a portrait
of Svava’s daughter in exchange
for a year’s worth of waffles.
The paintings are wild and eco-
logical—American gothic done up
in a Klimt-esque style. A homey
reality permeates them, as the
subjects are often people Michelle
knows well. She has been living
in Borgarnes for about two years
now, and after buying a house in
the city, she began to invite art-
ists to stay and collaborate with
her through Fluxus Design Tribe.
These collaborations have resulted
in a wide series of projects, from a
recycled-material chandelier to an
upcoming rewrite of Egil’s Saga.
Land-taking
After the Borgarfjörður museum,
we move on to the famed Settle-
ment Centre, a museum that
contains exhibits on Egil’s Saga
and Iceland’s early settlement
years. Hrefna and I go through the
Landnám (“land-taking”) exhibit,
armed with our audio guides. This
exhibit also exudes a sense of cre-
ativity —at times, the floor chang-
es density to mimic a more boggy
location, and maps with lights
allow guests to interact with the
geographical scope of early settle-
ment events.
Eírikur, a guide at the museum,
tells us about a new Locatify fea-
ture, an app that acts as an audio
guide to various historic sites
around the Settlement Centre.
Most of these sites have to do with
the early childhood of the rebel-
poet Egill, the violent yet lovable
main character of Egil’s Saga. His
father, the grouchy Skallagrímur,
lived in Borgarnes, and his burial
mound can be sat upon today.
After our morning in the city,
Hrefna and I both wish we could
stay deeper into the day. But most-
ly, we wish that each of the times
we’d pulled over for gas in previ-
ous years, we’d taken a few hours
to look around at all the riches
Borgarfjörður has to offer.
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