Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.07.2018, Qupperneq 18

Three American tourists stop and
get out of their car at the former fire
station in Hellissandur. They imme-
diately start to take pictures of the
old building to be shared on social
media. “Make Kanye great again!”,
exclaims one of the girls. The reason
for their excitement—and Kanye’s
presence in the little town—are the
murals covering the little shack.
This graffiti is not the only street
art to be admired; murals are spread
out over the fishing village and are
part of Kári Viðarsson’s street art
project.
Fish factory makeover
“It all started when Luanna Lee
from artrvl contacted me,” says
Kári. “Artrvl is this organisation
that connects international artists.
I already had this idea of giving the
old fish factory in town a makeover.
I said yes immediately.”
Kári didn’t initially plan to
launch such an ambitious project,
though. “I was thinking about chill-
ing and relaxing a bit this spring,
but once I get ideas, they’re like
babies that need to be taken care of,”
he explains. And thus, the project
to transform Hellissandur into the
Icelandic capital of street art began.
While most of the art is concen-
trated on the walls around the fish
factory, there is more to discover
throughout the village. “My vision
is to have at least one wall on every
street painted, so we could make a
map,” says Kári. Furthermore, Kári’s
hostel, The Freezer, is not exempt
from the street-art
project: “I want the
hostel to become
one giant mural
extravaganza,” he
says.
Art from
without
“I grew up in Hellissandur and had
always known the old fish factory,”
Kári continues. “It’s been unused
for quite some time now, but it’s a
huge space, so I wanted to create a
historical mural gallery that would
educate people on the local history
and ultimately make the town itself
an attraction.”
Driving towards the former
fish factory, you’re greeted by the
harrowing face of Áxlar-Björn,
Iceland’s most famous serial killer,
flanked by scenes from Jules Verne’s
Journey to the Centre of the Earth,
a peacefully sleeping woman, and
many more colourful paintings.
As you walk between the walls,
you can read local stories, which
are arranged in window frames
and accompanied by decorations
from Turkish artist Melike Kerpel—
artists came from all over the world
to take part in the project.
Inspiring the kidz
Priority number one, however, was
to include the locals. “It became
a community project,” says Kári.
“Locals were cooking for the artists
and much of the paint is left-over
paint that was donated by town
inhabitants.”
Thus, Kári’s mission is not
solely about art, but community,
and tourism. “I
hope that this will
help the local travel
and service indus-
try in the long run,”
he says. “As soon as
people start taking
pictures of t he
murals, the town
will become popu-
lar, which will in turn attract more
travellers to come to this area.”
Several businesses closed or
moved away from Rif in recent
years. “The Freezer is now the only
thing remaining in town,” says Kári.
"It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have
something else in addition.”
Although some of the murals
are not quite finished yet, the
fish factory has already hosted a
town festival within the colour-
ful walls. Kári’s dream would be to
host a street art festival in the near
future, including music and street
theatre. “Growing up here, I would
have liked to be exposed to so much
creativity,” he concludes, “and this
will hopefully inspire local kids to
become artists themselves.”
Thanks to gocarrental.is for sponsor-
ing the car for this trip.
Brighten The
Corners .
Kári Viðarsson’s newest project brings
street art to the Snæfellsnes peninsula
Words: Noemi Ehrat Photo: Art Bicnick
“This will hope-
fully inspire
local kids to
become artists
themselves.”
18 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13— 2018
Actor, theatre guy , and now street art maven: meet Kári Viðarsson
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