Author: Ciarán Daly - The Reykjavik Grapevine

Sigur Rós Survives: Endings, Eddas And ‘Odin’s Raven Magic’

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The end is nigh. You feel it in your bones. Each time you read the news, each time your phone…

The North Iceland Pentathlon: Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads

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In 1871, the famed poet and socialist William Morris decided to leave London behind for what the English then considered…

F*CK GENDER: Drag Photography Exhibition Opens At Gaukurinn

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“One love,” reads the subtitle of Drag-Súgur’s Tumblr page, which shares intimate portraits taken of and by the eponymous Icelandic…

Sculpting In Time: Páll Ragnar Pálsson’s Tectonics Of Life

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Iceland has long been a musical melting pot, and nowhere was this better represented than in this April’s Reykjavík Festival…

Steypa: Iceland Through The Windowpane

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It’s been five summers since Claus Sterneck, a well-known local photographer and postman in Reykjavík, first affixed photography works to…

Ceasetone: One Seamless Track In The Big World

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Hafsteinn Þráinsson is having a very busy summer. “It’s work, work, work,” he sighs. Hafsteinn is the brains behind the…

Egill Sæbjörnsson’s Trolls Run Amok In Venice

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It is no coincidence, argues Egill Sæbjörnsson, a Berlin-based conceptual artist and Iceland’s representative at the 57th Venice Biennale, that…

From Threat Into Thread: The Revolutionary Adidas x Parley Footwear

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With plastic now polluting every corner of the globe, plastic pollution remains one of the greatest blights on the world’s…

Best Live Band: Hatari

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From Behind The Godhead Of The Synth Stack Hannah Jane Cohen Hatari has one song on the internet. That’s right,…

Salt Of The Earth: An Outsider’s Look At Icelanders’ Salt Obsession

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Prikið, Reykjavík. Sunday morning. My favourite hangover food spot in the city. I am sitting at a table with two…

Grapevine’s Airwaves 2016 Super Review: FRIDAY

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“…Let me whisper the terrible word, from the Old English, from the Old German, from the Old Norse. Death. Many…

Grapevine’s Airwaves 2016 Super Review: Thursday

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“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” We know that feeling. Our ragtag supergroup of stalwarts has been all over town once again, covering the things…

Freewaves: The Best Off-Venues For The Wristbandless This Weekend

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Airwaves! What’s it all about? Well, music, for a start. Other things, too, like drinking. Drinking isn’t free, and musicians…

Taking No Hostages: The Words Beneath The Waves

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Whether you’re a musician or a festival-goer, Airwaves is a messy week for all involved. Thursday is the second night…

Kingdom Come: Inside Iceland’s Complicated Relationship With The Danes

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Writing in ‘A Defence of Iceland’ in 1593, Arngrímur the Learned argued that “we are seriously to consider, what things,…

Standing At The End Of History With ULTRAORTHODOX

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The masses huddle in prayer, slaves to the pale machinegod of the beat. Pixelated shadow armies slowly march towards us…

THEY’RE COMING! Reykjavík’s Very Own Tivoli

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Upon my return to Reykjavík last weekend from Denmark, I was pretty surprised to be greeted by a decidedly Danish…

SAFETY UNLEASHED: An Idiot’s Guide To Avoiding Accidents, Mishaps, And Certain Death In Iceland

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Iceland may be one of the safest countries in the world, but it is definitely not a safe island. Since…

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Garbageman

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Being an anarchist can be a thoroughly depressing exercise. On the one hand, your principles yearn for a perfect world—a…

Old As Folk: An Airwaves’ Off-venue Retirement Home With Svavar Knútur

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Iceland Airwaves is special for a lot of reasons, not least its array of weird and wonderful off-venues. From private…

BREAKING! AIRWAVES SCHEDULE CHANGE: Mikael Lind and Dad Rocks!

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The organisers for Iceland Airwaves want you to know (yes, you) that there are some ‘slight changes’ on the printed…

Killing Your Darlings With A Lawnmower To The Face: We Visit An Icelandic Horror Set

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Despite possessing a desolate landscape, long winters, and prominent bodysnatcher demographic (sorry, Alþingi), Iceland is not really a landmark when…

We Went West: 12 Hours In Sagaland

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The Westfjords. Snæfellsnes. A petrol station. All places. What do they have in common? Well, they’re synonymous with western Iceland—and,…

Breaking Weird: Girls Kitty And Brynja Dögg At Nordisk Panorama

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Last weekend’s Nordisk Panorama film festival saw the international premiere of Brynja Dögg Friðriksdóttir’s documentary, ‘I Want To Be Weird’,…

Icelanders’ Creativity Finally Validated With Glittery Awards

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This year’s Nordisk Panorama short & documentary film festival, placed a special focus on the creative work of Icelandic artists….