Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.09.2019, Blaðsíða 42

42The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16— 2019
Twenty Years of
Skriðuklaustur
Skúli Björn Marks Anniversary of East Iceland’s
Literary Heritage
Words: a rawlings Photo: Timothée Lambrecq
Writer’s Museum and
Artist Residency
Skriðuklaustur’s program runs
throughout the year
Just beyond Iceland’s largest for-
est and by the southern tongue of
a long, slender lake purported to
house a cryptid serpent, Skriðuk-
laustur writes its history. Once a
16th-century monastery and, more
recently, home to Icelandic author
Gunnar Gunnarsson, Skriðuklaus-
tur now marks its twentieth an-
niversary as a cultural centre in
East Iceland.
The institute bustles with ac-
tivities as a writer’s museum
for Gunnar Gunnarsson, a fully-
booked artist residency, a cultural
centre, monastery excavation, and
restaurant Klausturkaffi. “In the
interview my wife and I gave in
1999, we said we would definitely
leave the post in 5 years,” Skúli
Björn Gunnarsson laughs, reflect-
ing on his many
years as the director
of Skriðuklaustur
and his wife Elísa-
bet’s work running
Klausturkaffi. “We
thought we would be too exhaust-
ed after building it up from ground
zero. And we were exhausted, but
still enthusiastic. Fate brought us
to Skriðuklaustur.”
Writer’s museum
with a twist
“From the beginning, the institute
board and I made it a policy that
we would build it up as a cultural
centre, in a more open way than
a typical writer’s home like we
can say Gljúfrasteinn is,” explains
Skúli Björn, making reference to
the writer’s museum of Halldór
Laxness in Mosfellsdalur. “The
institute was supposed to be not
only the museum about the writer,
but also to continue with his ideol-
ogy. We were taking part in soci-
ety more than a typical museum
would do.”
Skúli Björn describes the insti-
tute’s mandate. “A typical writer’s
home is a pilgrim’s place for the
readers of that writer. As a target
group for a dead author, that is
usually only decreasing. It’s my
opinion that a classical writer’s
home as a museum and a pilgrim’s
place is maybe not the best way to
continue the legacy of the writer.
Our ambitions were to spread the
legacy of the writer and have more
people read Gunnar Gunnarsson.”
Monastery excavation
A ten-year excavation (2002-2012)
of a medieval monastery became
the second major foundation for
the institute. The name Skriðuk-
laustur indicated the monastery’s
existence. “It was the last monas-
tery established be-
fore 1500,” explains
Skúli Björn, “and
it only functioned
for 60 years until
t h e r efor m at ion
to Protestantism. Then it disap-
peared as the buildings weren’t
used anymore. When we started
the institute, one of our questions
was, ‘Where is the ruin from the
monastery?’”
The ruin was located in 2000.
“We now have one monastery to-
tally excavated in Iceland.”
At home in words
As for their artist residency, ap-
plicants run the gamut of arts,
including visual art, music and
literature. The institute has been
moving to offer increased resi-
dencies for writers and scholars,
however, as residency accessibil-
ity throughout Iceland tends to
favour visual artists. “We have
priorities,” Skúli Björn admits. “If
you are working with something
related to Gunnar or East Iceland,
then you rank a little higher on the
application list.”
Visiting writers can apply for
up to six weeks’ stay. It’s been an
in-demand residency for the past
twenty years, with at least 90%
usage on an annual basis. “People
are staying there even over Christ-
mas, in the darkest months,” Skúli
Björn remarks.
Influential solitude
The residency’s location offers a
distinct benefit to working writ-
ers. “Our residency provides soli-
tude and loneliness, up in the
valley out of the town,” says Skúli
Björn. “People who come here do
so to finish their works and have
some peace from the external
world.”
Skúli Björn comments on the
influence that Gunnar Gunnars-
son’s works have on contemporary
writers who stay in the residency.
“Gunnarsson’s works are trying to
get into the visiting writers’ works
all the time,” he laughs.
Game for heritage
Skúli Björn has designed a new
course for the University of Iceland
this autumn, called ‘Gamification
and Cultural Heritage’. His time
is split between visits to teach in
Reykjavík, and his directorial du-
ties at Skriðuklaustur. The unex-
pected combination of gaming
and heritage is influenced by an
overseas collaboration on the me-
dieval monastery and Skúli Björn’s
work with Gunnar Gunnarsson’s
legacy.
“Gunnar Gunnarsson was a re-
ally passionate player of the card
game Lomber (or l'Hombre). The
card game was close to extinc-
tion 20 years ago, so the institute
decided to teach the game to new
generations. It’s an old card game
played on 40 cards, originating in
Spain and France in the 15th cen-
tury. It spread all over Europe as
a gambling card game. In Iceland,
we only play it in the winter. The
old tradition was that you could
only play it during months with ‘R’
in it—September through April.”
Extending life
Being able to actualize new edi-
tions of Gunnar Gunnarsson's’
works helps support the overall
project of Skriðuklaustur. “The
writer’s family handed over the
copyright to the institute, at least
temporarily,” Skúli Björn explains.
“That has been quite successful,
because we have had a lot of new
translations and editions of his
works. ‘Advent’ was published in
Italy two years ago and they have
sold 10,000 copies already—good
for a dead author. There’s also a
new edition in French that will be
published next year.”
Skúli Björn also notes mul-
tiple non-literary projects stem-
ming from Gunnar’s writing. The
Icelandic band Mógil will launch
a CD inspired by Gunnar’s book
‘Advent,’ and there is also a film
project for the same book in the
financing stage. A TV series is in
the works, inspired by another of
Gunnar’s books, ‘Svartfugl.’
“He passed away in 1975, but
he is still alive in his works,” says
Skúli Björn. “I hope we can take
some credit for that, after twenty
years of the institute.”
Skriðuklaustur - German architecture in Iceland
Books
“Fate brought
me to Skriðuk-
laustur.”
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