Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.04.2019, Blaðsíða 2

Elín Elísabet is an illus-
trator and cartoonist
born and raised in
Borgarnes. At the
tender age of 15, Elín
moved to Reykjavík
and hasn’t looked
back, except for the
annual springtime
impulse to move
someplace quiet
and keep chickens.
Elín likes folk music,
stationery, seal vid-
eos, the country of
Ireland, and eggs.
Hannah Jane Cohen
is based out of Ice-
land by way of New
York. An alumni of
Columbia University,
Hannah has lived
on five continents
and speaks three
languages fluently.
Her visionary work is
known for expand-
ing the definitions of
emotion, introspec-
tion, and above all
else, taste.
John Rogers is an
Englishman who first
joined Grapevine
as a music writer,
later graduating to
Managing Editor. A
constant traveller
and a lover of art,
culture, food & night-
life, he edits our Best
of Reykjavík, Best of
Iceland, and Iceland
Airwaves sister
publications. His first
book, “Real Life,” was
published in 2014.
Art Bicnick is a man
of mystery, moving
like the wind through
the parties, soirées,
openings and sociali-
ate events of Rey-
kjavík. Sometimes he
can be seen abroad
in the countryside,
braving the spray
of a waterfall or the
frozen glacier air.
Always, he will have a
camera, document-
ing the moves of his
writer companion.
Sveinbjörn Pálsson
is our Art Director.
He's responsible for
the design of the
magazine and the
cover photography.
When he's not work-
ing here, he DJs as
Terrordisco, hosts
the Funkþátturinn
radio show, or sits at
a table in a Laugarda-
lur café, drinking
copious amounts of
coffee and thinking
about fonts.
Sam Daniels, a
Grapevine Intern, is
a connoisseur of the
weird and wonder-
ful. Originally from
the UK, he moved to
Iceland a few years
ago and never looked
back. He enjoys writ-
ing poetry, novels,
and short stories
and finds amazing
amounts of inspira-
tion in the tales of
Norse mythology and
Icelandic folklore.
Andie Fontaine has
lived in Iceland since
1999 and has been
reporting since 2003.
They were the first
foreign-born mem-
ber of the Icelandic
Parliament, in 2007-
08, an experience
they recommend for
anyone who wants
to experience a
workplace where
colleagues work tire-
lessly to undermine
each other.
Aliya Uteuova is a
reporting intern
all the way from
Kazakhstan. She
studied journalism
in Maine and
reported on ocean
acidification, rising
sea levels, and
marine crustaceans
(i.e. lobsters). Her
fascination with sea
life brought her to
Iceland where she
thoroughly enjoys
the coastline.
Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir
is a national treasure.
One of Iceland's
leading illustra-
tors, when she's
not drawing in her
unique style, she's
the front-woman of
Icelandic electro-
pop supergroup FM
Belfast. Her comic
strip Lóaboratorium
appears every issue
on page 8, and is also
available as a daily
dose on her Twitter.
First 12: Just WOW: The Airline Aftermath06: Hell Awaits: Slayer Sue Secret Solstice10: We're Still Definitely Winning Euro 2020 30: MSEA Hides Under Things 27: DJ Sillus Slays You 28: Andy Svarthol 40: How To Be A Hugleikur Dagsson 40: Another Year, Another Mathöll 44: Grindavík: The Happiest Town 46: Road Trippin': Go Mad Max Yourself
The Icelandic tourism has
been almost unbeliev-
able. Iceland has gone from a couple of
hundred thousand tourists to 2.1 million
travellers within a decade. This develop-
ment is one of the key factors in iceland’s
quick recovery from the total collapse of
its banking sector in 2008.
We literally struck gold. And we are
thankful for that.
But—just like the heyday of Icelandic
banking—tourism has grown incredibly
fast, and become a huge part of our econ-
omy in an eerily short amount of time.
So it had quite an impact when WOW
Air went bust. The low-budget airline
held 30% of the Icelandic market, so it
was clear that the airline’s failure would
have a huge impact on the country, from
WOW staff, to travellers having their
plans interrupted, to the travel industry
at large, and the cancellation of Sónar
Reykjavík 2019.
But there’s also good news. There
are still 27 airlines that fly to and from
Iceland. Experts say the impact of WOW’s
collapse will be short term. Around 2,000
people have already lost their jobs, almost
all of them directly linked to the airline
in one way or another. More jobs will be
lost in the restaurant industry and other
related industries—even small maga-
zines like The Reykjavík Grapevine will
have to fight for their lives. But Iceland
has always had a very low unemploy-
ment rate, and it was historically low just
before WOW Air crashed. So we expect to
be back on our feet quickly. We’ll be fine.
Still, WOW’s bankruptcy leaves us
with a bitter taste in our mouths. It’s
almost too similar to the banking system
collapse. The owner of WOW Air flew too
close to the sun—while the government
watchdogs slept. They were overconfi-
dent that this would resolve on its own
and allowed a shaky company with an
overconfident CEO to continually over-
reach until it became a threat to national
interests. At its core, it’s exactly what
happened with the banks in the lead up
to 2008.
Perhaps the bankruptcy of WOW Air
was a necessary wake-up call. A harsh
one, sure, but the travel industry is still
here, and it will continue to grow in the
coming years. But we need to learn from
our mistakes and stop letting overcon-
fident CEOs rule our economy—or even
destroy it.
With this in mind, we want to remind
you that you can support The Reykjavík
Grapevine by visiting our homepage at
grapevine.is, our store at shop.grape-
vine.is, and our new travel market—
gotravel.grapevine.is—where you can
book tours all around the country. Also,
if you like Youtube, subscribe to our
channel, The Reykjavík Grapevine, for
news, travel, and all kinds of videos about
Iceland. VG
EDITORIAL
ON THE COVER:
Bára Gísladóttir
& Skúli Sverrisson
PHOTO
Cover Photo:
Rut Sigurðardóttir
rutsig.com
Styling, Hair & Make-Up:
Sigrún Ásta Jörgensen
ABOUT THE PICTURE:
Rut as usual sought
inspiration from
hip-hop covers. This
time, the inspiration
was De La Soul's '3
Feet High And Rising,'
NWA's 'STRAIGHT OUTTA
COMPTON,' and A$AP
Rocky's recent TESTING.
Enough Of The
Overconfident CEO
VOLCANO &
EARTHQUAKE
EXHIBITION
More info and tickets
lavacentre.is
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