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Reykjavík’s DJ Queen
She must be the coolest 65-year-old in Iceland. Long, flowing silver hair. Black coat, black trousers, black ‘With the Beatles’ shirt. George Harrison pin on her left, John Lennon pin on her right. Between the two, a huge ‘peace’ necklace. Now top…
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What Happened?
First, nobody thought comedian Jón Gnarr’s joke party would actually make it to the ballot for the 2010 Reykjavík municipal elections. Then, nobody thought comedian Jón Gnarr’s joke party would attract a significant number of voters. Then, nobody thought comedian Jón Gnarr…
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“A Gallery Is Nothing More Than The Group Of Artists Represented There”
While art aficionados and those familiar with the Icelandic art scene may have their own ideas about work that is particularly “i8-like,” Börkur says the gallery’s aesthetic is difficult to define. “We have a diverse programme,” he says, although he admits that…
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Icelandic Art, If There Is Such A Thing
On the ground floor of a grey apartment building, across from Reykjavík’s old harbour, around the corner from the Reykjavík Art Museum, and a five minute walk from the heart of the city’s centre, sits a quiet gallery space which takes its…
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Pay Per View
In June last year, something unprecedented happened here in Iceland: a group of private landowners erected a barrier fence and started charging people to gain access to Kerið, a volcanic crater lake located on their property in Grímsnes, South Iceland. Their claim…
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Madam President
Arriving at Vigdís Finnbogadóttir’s house just before noon on Friday, I find a note on the door: “Anna, please wait! I’m on my way,” signed “ViFi.” I go back to the car and nervously watch the clock. I do not want to…
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The Calm Warrior
Bouncing back and forth inside the octagon-shaped cage in Nottingham, England, Icelandic fighter Gunnar Nelson lands a kick to DaMarques Johnson’s head, evades a flurry of blows, and then pulls his opponent down to the canvas. Avoiding a shoulder lock, he then…
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Welcome to the Grapevine’s Second Ever Annual Music Awards, Ever!
Here at Reykjavík Grapevine we love little more than chit-chatting and shit-shooting about Icelandic music. There’s rarely a moment in the office when there isn’t some new album or other on the stereo, or playing in the headphones of the various people…
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‘Tis The Season Of Björgvin Halldórsson
Whether or not you’re aware of it, you’ve probably heard Björgvin Halldórsson’s voice a couple of times today if you’re in Iceland. You might even be listening to him as you read this. In the decades’ worth of music that he’s released…
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The Secret History Of The Collapse
The world has changed significantly since 2008, and it owes a great deal to Iceland for this shift, but not for reasons claimed by Facebook Revolutionaries who praise the country for “setting an example.” The Kitchenware Revolution’s real gift to a world…
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At The Core Of Emiliana Torrini
Emiliana Torrini has just made a wonderful new album, ‘Tookah,’ which will be released on the 9th of September. We were in the middle of finishing one of our July issues when its first single, “Speed Of Dark,” hit the internet, and…
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Hotels, Motels, Holiday Inns…
Watch the tour bus as a caricature of its passengers. It lugs ungracefully up Eiríksgata, heaves over the speed bumps, and arrives panting against the backside of Hallgrímskirkja. It leans right and spills its camera-clicking innards onto the sidewalk, or into the…
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Reykjavík’s War On Graffiti
For the last five years, the City of Reykjavík has been waging a war. For a country without a military, this may seem curious, but this isn’t exactly a war involving soldiers. It’s not a war on drugs nor is it a…
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Q
In early 2010, a young man was arrested in Reykjavík on charges of stealing sensitive documents from local financial company, Milestone, which had made their way into news stories in the Icelandic media. The man, seventeen at the time, had worked for…
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Hanging With Giants
Adjusting the squat rack to cater to his 2.06m height, Iceland’s Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson begins his Friday afternoon workout. The 240kg he adds to the 20kg bar seems to put more stress on the weight rack than it does on his 175kg…
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In The Land Of The Wild Boys
After the election, we see the old parties of economic mass destruction are coming back to power. Giving enormous promises of easy money to be wrestled from evil vulture funds, debt relief and tax reduction, The Progressive Party doubled in size after…
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The Grapevine’s First Ever Music Awards, Ever
We at The Reykjavík Grapevine really like music despite what you might have surmised from reading our magazine. It’s just that we care so much about it that some of the things we keep writing might be taken as being mean or…
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Justice Delayed, Justice Denied
Why would people who have escaped their homelands to seek asylum in Iceland want to leave again? Didn’t they come to live the good life? To enjoy Western freedom and the Nordic welfare system? In the last six months, a number of…
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Still The Prince!
I find myself sitting at one end of a large boardroom table with a sheet of questions and a stack of three Prince Polo bars in front of me. Sitting at the opposite end of the table are two burly Icelandic men:…
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Party Like A Pirate
On Saturday, the pirates will party. The fledgling Icelandic Pirate Party will hold a founding meeting tomorrow at the Grassroots Centre on Brautarholt. The party will join a network of political parties that seek to promote democracy through freedom of information, direct…
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Architectural Acne
Back in June, Icelandic writer Hallgrímur Helgason was asked to give a speech at the outdoors opening of the architectural exhibition “New Nordic,” that can be seen until November 4 at the Louisiana Art Museum in Humlebæk, Denmark. Hallgrímur grabbed the opportunity…
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The Impossible Feat
Director Baltasar Kormákur is to Icelandic film what Sigur Rós is to Icelandic music. After successfully making the Hollywood box-office hit ‘Contraband,’ starring Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi, Baltasar has returned to Iceland with the docudrama ‘The Deep,’ the story of Guðlaugur…
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Erró At 80: Still Not Wearing A Tie
An entire cast of grotesque, comic figures watches us as we cross the room: exaggerated nudes in mock classical pose; portraits of misshapen Picasso-esque faces; towering, iconic statesmen depicted as cartoon baddies. It’s Friday morning at the Reykjavík Art Museum. A handful…