Reykjavík Grapevine - jun. 2023, Side 14

The Reykjavík Grapevine 6 / 23 14Feature
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home and those influences helped
shape a sound that was often hard
to define.
“It has become clearer to me in
recent years that we are all playing
different roles,” Logi explains. “For
me, some roles are very European,
some are very Nordic, some are
African and some are African dias-
poric. I’ve never lived in Africa, so
in some way I have more in common
with people of African descent in
Europe than my family in Africa.”
This spring Logi completed a de-
gree in product design from Iceland
University of the Arts. His graduation
project focused on how heritage
manifests itself through design by
analysing the works of the African
diaspora in Europe. The project is
called “Love letter to litla Kongó”
and is inspired by the remarkable
story of Hans Jónatan, a once en-
slaved person who became the first
known person of African descent
to settle in Iceland.
“I read Hans Jónatan’s biography,
The Man Who Stole Himself, and it
made me wonder why I had never
heard about this man before and
why I had never learned about the
colonial history of the Nordic coun-
tries,” says Logi. “At the same time,
hundreds of Icelanders can trace
their family lineage to him.”
Hans Jónatan was enslaved by a
colonial overseer in the Danish West
Indies. After being taken to Copen-
hagen, he became a war hero in
the Danish navy before fleeing from
Denmark to east Iceland, where he
settled in the village of Djúpivogur
and married. For a long time, Hans
Jónatan’s story was clouded by
the nation’s racism-fuelled shame,
but Icelanders have recently be-
gun en gaging in more fruitful con-
versations about race, sparking a
renewed interest in “the man who
stole himself.”
“I have two boys and both of them
are blond and much whiter than I
was as a kid,” Logi explains. “Seeing
them made me understand that we
have all these definitions that don’t
really matter. It makes no difference
whether my blond son defines him-
self as black or white.”
Logi remembers vividly the debate
that raged when, in 2004, Sheba
Ojienda, a woman of colour, ap-
peared on the cover of the Reykjavík
Grapevine dressed in the traditional
costume of the Fjallkonan – the
female embodiment of Iceland. The
image sparked a strong reaction in
society and for weeks after little else
was discussed. The uproar saw the
Grapevine receive hate mail from
enraged Icelanders and interna-
tional neo-nazi organisations who
like to consider Iceland a bastion
of “whiteness.”
“We need to understand that it is all
nonsense,” Logi says matter of factly.
“Anger is a big mover when it comes
to nationality, race, sexuality, identity,
etc. But when we remove that anger,
everything becomes funnier. I could
be angry about the discussion
happening when [Sheba] was Fjall-
konan. I remember the debate well.
But I now understand that anger is
not a good way to approach things.”
“People are all programmed a
certain way and in a sense we need
to have sympathy with them, be-
cause I believe it is much better to
tackle issues with sympathy than
with anger.”
Logi believes that the reaction would
be very different today than in 2004
and an ongoing conversation about
race and identity in this country helps
foster a more inclusive society. “I
think a big part of living in a society
like Iceland, which is going through
big changes, is to not focus too much
on it,” he says. “Not that we should
ignore it. But we are going to work at
it and we do that by having a conver-
sation – one I hope my art can con-
tribute to.”
UNDER THE GLACIER
The characteristically cynical Halldór
Laxness once wrote “soon times
will be better, with flowery fields and
sweet, long summer days.” Perhaps
being an Icelander is sharing the
feeling of the oft misplaced opti-
mism that drove people to settle on
this rock in the north Atlantic 1000
years ago. Perhaps that is a require-
ment to make it through the dark-
ness of winter, waiting for a summer
that is always around the corner. The
sort of maniacal optimism that births
a nation that celebrates the first day
of summer in April, yet routinely ex-
periences frost in May.
As we barrel through the 21st cen-
tury, the isolation that marked most
of our history is gone. Iceland is
becoming ever more international
and diverse. It’s up to us as a nation
to see how this diversity enriches
our culture. It is up to us to look in
the mirror and ask ourselves who
we are and what sort of a country
we want to be.
I have two boys and both of
them are blond and much
whiter than I was as a kid.
Seeing them made me under-
stand that we have all these
definitions that don’t really
matter. It makes no difference
whether my blond son defines
himself as black or white.
We didn’t want to take the
activist approach to art – we
wanted to put the issue of
what it means to be Icelandic
into the hands of the audi-
ence, to make them face that
question.