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Iceland’s Low Carbon Illusion
Exploring Iceland’s efforts to addressing climate change We are living in a time where every aspect of our daily lives is touched by the effects of the climate crisis. We see it first hand here in Iceland. Glaciers are melting, weather patterns…
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The Singing Fish Circus Takes New York
Icelandic exceptionalism in the big apple Big cars, bright lights. The apple that never sleeps. Taste of Iceland – a cultural festival produced by the marketing platform Inspired by Iceland – brought artists, poets and musicians from the Mengi collective and Tunglið…
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The Identity of Us
Meet four Icelanders changing the face of arts and culture The past 30 years have brought about the biggest demographic shift in Iceland since disgruntled Norwegian pagans settled here more than 1000 years ago. In the decade leading up to 2022, the…
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Nanna In Full Bloom: A Solo Exploration Of Solitude And Botany
I reach for my phone outside an old industrial building in Reykjavík’s Grandi neighbourhood. Once the main hub for the city’s fishing operations, it is now a gentrified landfill with two streets running parallel, separated by a row of refurbished fish-freezing plants.…
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Kids Run the World: For Better or For Worse
“Ég treysti Yrsu R.” (“I trust Yrsa R.”) I sign a little hand-written waiver decorated with glitter, as I sit in a chair to get a haircut. My hairdresser is just over 10 years old, but that doesn’t make me even a…
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Iceland Disconnected: What if our submarine cables went bust?
It’s something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, or at least a symptom of some global crisis more central to the plot — be it zombie apocalypse, an alien invasion, or a cataclysmic global weather event. A world without internet. Have you ever…
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Holy Shit! It’s The 2023 Grapevine Music Awards!
What will 2022 be remembered for? If 2020-2021 were “the lost years,” where artists went insular and mused on solitude and resilience, then 2022, in comparison, was the year of fresh starts; a cautious but joyful movement towards normality. Larger-scale live events…
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From Sagas To The Silver Screen: Icelandic Cinema Comes Of Age
I was walking home through downtown Reykjavík one day in April when I came across a large crowd blocking the road. Asking around, I came to discover the road was closed for filming Netflix’s action-thriller ‘Heart of Stone’ starring Gal Gadot. Lots…
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Drawing Voices In The Air: Hekla Magnúsdóttir On Her New Album, The Theremin, And The Future
Hekla Magnúsdóttir welcomes us into her charming home in Reykjavík, where we are immediately greeted by an adorable (albeit bitey) kitten named Vindur. She apologises for the kitten’s impropriety, but we hardly notice the dashing and lunging of the little beast, as…
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“I Live A Really Normal Life”: Björk On New Album ‘Fossora’ And Being A ‘Cool Mom’
On a chilly Friday afternoon in late August, in an otherwise empty Reykjavik restaurant, Björk Guðmundsdóttir is having trouble focussing. “My eyes are going all over the place looking at the people, I can’t concentrate,” she complains jovially, getting up to switch…
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Helping People Who Can’t Help Themselves: The Volunteers Keeping Iceland Safe
In a second-floor room in a nondescript industrial building by Grindavík’s harbour—notable only for a handful of red and neon yellow emergency vehicles parked on the street—search and rescue workers plot their movements for the day. Small cracks in the calm facade…
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Love Will Win (If We Want It): Fighting Transphobia In Iceland
On June 25th, a man walked into the London Pub in Oslo, Norway, pulled out a gun, and started shooting. He would repeat this at two other locations, killing two people and wounding 21 before being arrested. He was expressly motivated by…
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Instagram vs Reality: How The Digital Age Of Tourism Changed Iceland Forever
Tourism was the unexpected saviour of the Icelandic economy after the financial crisis of 2008, and since then social media platforms like Instagram have facilitated a huge boom in visitors. Fourteen years later, with tourist numbers expected to return to pre-pandemic figures…
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The Equaliser: Haraldur Þorleifsson On Power, Misinformation, And Leveling The Playing Field
Haraldur Ingi Þorleifsson wears many hats. While ostensibly an entrepreneur and businessman who founded the creative technology services company Ueno in 2014 (which was subsequently acquired by Twitter in January 2021), he has also made a name for himself in Iceland for…
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Stories And Connections In The Far West: Skjaldborg Returns
The Skjaldborg festival has nurtured Iceland’s documentary scene since its inception in 2007. Like most other aspects of society, it wasn’t exempt from COVID’s unrelenting grasp. As the saying goes: “You never know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’’ Something tells us…
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You Should Be Dancing: Iceland Dance Company’s Latest Production Celebrates The Joy Of Dance—For All
On a stage in the centre of Reykjavík, 15 strangers are dancing. They move to the music in exaltation, arms outstretched, mouths wide in laughter. Hips are swaying, fists are pumping. They are people of many colours, races, backgrounds and ages, and…
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Celebrating Imagination: DesignMarch Is Back In Full Swing
Iceland’s largest design festival, DesignMarch, is about to return for its 14th year running—in May. Although the pandemic forced it to bend to the numerous restrictions over the past two years, it did not break, and excitement is at an all time…
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Treasure Ísland
Jón Ársæll’s latest work documents a 60-year search for gold “This is not the film I set out to make,” says Jón Ársæll Þórðarson in his distinct, gentle timbre, peering intently from behind round, thick-rimmed glasses. “I had some ideas at the…
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Those Who Left And Those Who Stayed, Part 2: Choosing The Less Worst Thing
On the morning of February 24th, the world woke to the news that after weeks of sabre rattling, Russia had invaded Ukraine. Since then, some four million people have fled the country, while others have opted to stay—to fight, to volunteer assistance,…
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Those Who Left And Those Who Stayed, Part 1: The Uncanny Proximity Of War
On the morning of February 24th, the world woke to the news that after weeks of sabre rattling, Russia had invaded Ukraine. Since then, some four million people have fled the country, while others have opted to stay—to fight, to volunteer assistance,…
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The Optimist: First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, On Her New Book, Writing, And Gender Equality
Eliza Reid, the Canadian-born journalist and writer who ended up First Lady of Iceland after her husband, historian Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, was elected President in 2016, is probably the most approachable person in such a high office that you’ll ever meet. Those…
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The Personal Is Political: Podcaster & Activist Edda Falak On Misogyny, Sexual Violence, And The Failures Of Government
Long-time readers of the Grapevine may have noticed a series of stories over the past few years on prominent, often powerful, Icelandic men being revealed to have crossed boundaries of consent with women, in particular, women who are younger and often of…
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A Night Out With The Demons: Skrattar Is Keeping The Rockstar Lifestyle Alive
We’ve all heard wild tales of rock bands’ raucous nights with groupies, drugs and wacky behaviour. However, it seems like this destructive culture is dying out. Gone are the nights when TVs were thrown out hotel room windows by deranged rock stars—and…