I & I - 2011, Qupperneq 2

2 I&I
Issues and Images
Vol. 7 1-2011
editor: Benedikt Jóhannesson benedikt@heimur.is
Staff writers: Ásta Andrésdóttir asta@heimur.is, Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir eyglo@heimur.is and Páll Stefánsson ps@heimur.is
contributing writers: Alana Odegard, Kremena Nikolova-Fontaine and Júlíana Björnsdóttir.
design: Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson.
Photographers: Geir Ólafsson, Páll Kjartansson and Páll Stefánsson.
editorial consultant: Inga Hlín Pálsdóttir, inga@islandsstofa.is
On the cover: Reykjavík Center. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
Back cover: Herdubreid Mountain. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Printing: Oddi, ecolabelled printing company.
Published for Promote Iceland by Heimur Publishing Ltd. www.icelandreview.com
Copyright Heimur Publishing. No articles in the magazine may be reproduced
elsewhere in whole or in part without the prior permission of the publisher.
icelandreview@icelandreview.com
Contents
4 Five Questions
Icelanders talk about their favorite places.
6 A Letter From iceLAnd
A new and exciting chapter in the nation’s thousand-
year-old literary history has begun, as Iceland is honorary
guest at the 2011 Frankfurt Book Fair, the most important
one of its kind in the world.
8 inspired by iceLAnd
Impressions of visitors.
10 sonic retro
Icelandic start-up company Redwing designs hand-wired
vintage amplifiers.
11 music ALL Around us
Music festivals are becoming more popular every year in
all corners of Iceland.
12 iceLAnd’s nAtionAL Hero turns 200
Icelanders don’t have many heroes. Jón Sigurdsson, the
leader in the country’s fight for independence, is an un-
disputed hero in Icelandic history.
14 HArpA oF 1,600 strings
Finally Reykjavík has its own music hall; an architectural
masterpiece and a world class concert hall.
16 A top musiciAn opens tHe new HArpA
Vladimir Ashkenazy was a child prodigy piano player.
Now he is one of the leading conductors in the world.
17 Arctic ALLure
A Stonehenge-like construction is appearing
close to Raufarhöfn by the Arctic Circle.
18 inspired by iceLAnd
Impressions of visitors.
20 tHe cute, tHe crueL And tHe tourists
Everyone likes the puffins, but the cruel skua
is indeed a rare bird.
22 it isn’t eAsy being green…
except mAybe in iceLAnd
Since they became widely available, Icelanders prefer
their vegetables fresh and local. Flúdir, Reykholt and Lau-
garás are the cradle of the country’s greenhouse farming.
24 tHe super good super Food
The dairy product that is not quite like anything else.
25 Food is Fun
Many people are pleasantly surprised when they come to
Iceland and find culinary delights.
26 we screAm For icecreAm
An old fashioned family firm has made great ice cream
for more than 40 years.
27 brAin-power-pLAy
Icelandic start-up company MindGames creates innova-
tive computer games that are controlled by the user’s
brainwaves.
28 mAinstreAming ALternAtive energy
We’re not there yet, but methanol, methane, rapeseed oil,
hydrogen and green electricity might soon replace fossil
fuels in Iceland for good.