Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.12.2016, Page 8

Andrými is a volunteer-run public
space that formed during the wave of
protests that followed the Panama Pa-
pers scandal. It is probably best known
for hosting a Wednesday evening free
dinner for asylum seekers and the peo-
ple who want to know them first-hand,
but there’s much more to the space
than that. It has also become a meet-
ing place for organizers and activists,
houses the Anarchist Library, and has
aspirations of greater work. While it
has no leaders, one of the people re-
sponsible for putting the place to-
gether is Jamie McQuilkin. We caught
up with him to talk about Andrými’s
present mission and future goals.
What was the impetus behind
forming Andrými?
For a grassroots political movement to
operate, it does need physical spaces.
Especially places that are not com-
modified; where you don’t need to buy
a cup of coffee just to be there. So that
was part of the impetus. Another part
was to supply a space in Reykjavík for
refugees that was not run by the state
or a charity as such, and that they
could take part in organising. A space
where they could meet Icelanders and
other immigrants, tell their stories,
and get support.
As the situation is now, if you seek
asylum in Iceland, you’ll be spending
most of your time sitting in your room,
or maybe going out for a walk during
the day, because you’re not allowed to
work. You can’t have any guests to your
room, and in some places, you can’t
have any guests at all. We’d like to have
a space where we could be open all the
day, every day, so this could become
sort of the default option for asylum
seekers who are looking for something
to do in Reykjavík.
Since forming about seven months
ago, how have you seen the number
of visitors grow?
Originally, we had to advertise the
weekly dinner. We sent text messages
every week and really pulled every-
thing out to try and get people to come.
Now, we’re so full that it became im-
portant to stop telling people about it.
[laughs] There’s huge demand for it,
obviously. It basically runs itself now.
At first it was important to organize it
and delegate things like who’s taking
the garbage out, but now the people
who come here to eat self-organise.
That’s what we want to encourage;
it’s not a consumer space, it’s a social
space.
Have you gotten any static from the
authorities over this space?
They haven’t shown any interest in it.
We’re not selling anything, we don’t
do anything here that you can’t do in a
house. So it’s basically like we’re invit-
ing over a large group of friends to our
house every week.
Apart from the weekly dinners,
what else goes on here?
We have various activist groups who
like to meet here, who have hard time
finding a private space elsewhere
where they don’t have to pay for it. That
covers all flavours of activism. We’ve
also had discussion groups, self-edu-
cation groups, and participatory mu-
sic and dance. It’s become kind of the
default space for activists who want to
organise something. It’s a great space
for anyone who’s concerned about lib-
eration and self-organising.
How have you felt seeing the public
response to the space?
It’s really heartwarming when you see
refugees coming every week, especially
without any encouragement. They’ve
come to see this place as a space where
they can feel welcome.
Andrými, at Klapparstígur 19, is open ev-
ery Wednesday at 20:00 for asylum seek-
ers, new immigrants, and the locals who
want to get to know them. If you want
to book a time at Andrými, you can send
them a message on Facebook or send them
an email at andrymi@riseup.net. Andrý-
mi is also looking for a new space, as their
current location is set to be demolished
to make room for houses. They will be
launching a fundraising drive to that end
in the coming year.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 18 — 2016
8
Words
PAUL
FONTAINE
Photo
ART BICNICK
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“For a grassroots
political movement to
operate, it does need
physical spaces.”
Andrými: A Space For Everyone
During the past
month, Iceland has
been experienc-
ing something of a
post-election hangover. It started
with the Pirate Party not winning
the mandate that the whole world
predicted they would, and Presi-
dent Guðni Th. Jóhannesson got
the ball rolling by giving the man-
date instead to the Independence
Party. Since then, we have seen
coalition talks spanning the right,
left and centre, with no workable
common platforms between them
giving us a government. As this is
being written, the Pirate Party has
the mandate and is trying to form a
five-party coalition. Other possible
configurations include a minor-
ity government, or even a “national
government,” wherein all parties
share power equally and have to
learn to work together. Imagine
that.
Another ongoing conflict that has
finally come home to roost: Iceland
v. Iceland™, i.e., Iceland the country
versus Iceland Foods, the company
behind the Iceland frozen foods
chain. Iceland™ say they’ve been us-
ing “Iceland” as a brand since 1970
with no significant problems being
caused whatsoever. Iceland, how-
ever, argues that a private company
trademarking the name of a coun-
try has indeed caused problems:
a number of domestic producers
have complained that they have run
into legal trouble for simply putting
their products’ country of origin
on the packaging. While Iceland™
rightly claims they have used “Ice-
land” for decades, Iceland pre-dates
the store by a few centuries. So we’ll
see where this legal battle ends up.
Speaking of trademark infringe-
ment, Sushi Samba in Iceland is
no longer legally permitted to call
themselves Sushi Samba, as it
turns out there’s a restaurant chain
in the US who have been using this
name since 2000. While legal ex-
perts have gone back and forth over
whether or not the Icelandic own-
ers of the restaurant deliberately
lifted the menu theme as well as
the name, no one seems to be ask-
ing how it is that the Trademark
Office approved the name without
checking to see if it had been used
elsewhere first. Aren’t those people
in charge of checking that out be-
fore giving the green light? Appar-
ently not.
NEWS IN
BRIEF