Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2016, Page 32

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Höfðabakki 9 Entrance to
Mímir-símenntun
Höfðabakki 9, 110 Reykjavík
Bus line no. 6 from city centre and
bus line no. 12 from Breiðholt
Öldugata 23, 101 Reykjavík
Vesturlandsvegur
Learn Icelandic this summer
Location: Öldugata 23, 101 Reykjavík
Registration:
www.mimir.is
or at the office at
Höfðabakki 9, 110 Reykjavík
Morning and evening classes in July and August
Level 1-3 and online course level 4
32The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 10 — 2016Art
Welcome to the seventeenth LungA art
festival, located in the beautiful Seyð-
isfjörður. LungA aims to bring togeth-
er people from all around the world
for a week of creating, partying and
spending time together in the beauti-
ful natural surroundings of the fjord.
One participant, Vigdís Perla, fittingly
describes it as “a summer camp for
grown-ups.”
Seyðisfjörður is about nine hours
away from Reykjavík by car, and sur-
rounded by high mountains. This cre-
ates a small and defined environment
in which the festivalgoers spend their
time. It has also been said that the
mountains contain a crystal with a cer-
tain kind of power, which keeps bring-
ing people back. Having spent only three
days in this place, I believe this could be
true. The town is colourful, lively, calm
and beautiful. It also contains the best
sushi place in Iceland, Norð Austur.
Everything
LungA is a weeklong festival with work-
shops, concerts, lectures, parties and
other happenings. The festival ends
with a final exhibition of the partici-
pants’ work throughout the week and
a concert, which this year features
Human Woman, GKR, and more. This
year’s festival began with an opening
ceremony on Sunday night, designed
by a youth exchange programme held
prior to the festival. Four different
schools researched how we could create
a socially sustainable society. Over the
course of the week, seven workshops
will cover everything from dance and
painting to karaoke, and more. They
serve to provide a creative outlet for
the festival’s diverse and talented par-
ticipants; the workshops are extremely
popular and were sold out quickly.
Best friends
It is interesting to witness the festival
progress, especially as people get to
know each other quickly here. From
the first day, beautiful friendships have
been in the making. It might be the
fresh air, the AMO crépes being served
daily or the partying, but it seems that
at LungA, everyone are best friends.
It might also have to do with the col-
laborative nature of LungA: when par-
ticipants work alongside one another, a
friendship happens naturally, perhaps
more so than at a music festival where
one is not forced to interact with oth-
The Festival That
Never Sleeps:
LungA 2016
A summer camp for grown-ups
Words & Photos
HREFNA BJÖRG
GYLFADÓTTIR
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