Words by

Ish Sveinsson Houle

Photo by

Supplied

Feluleikur seeks unusual performance spaces

If you were to play a game of hide and seek in Reykjavík, I’d venture to say a basement, an old tower, the elevator of an art museum, and underneath a vintage clothing store are all proper hiding spots.  

Hugi Kjartansson, Stirnir Kjartansson, Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir, and Eyrún Úa would agree. The four of them organise the project “Feluleikur” (the Icelandic word for hide and seek), a series that hosts performances of music and art in unlikely spots around the capital region to combat the ever-increasing venue shortage in Reykjavík. 

The first Feluleikur took place in Hugi & Stirnir’s basement this September. Since then, Feluleikur’s team has grown — and they’ve notably received a grant from Reykjavíkurborg to continue. “We go on expeditions where we choose a neighbourhood, and we go and we look into windows,” says Hugi, explaining their process for finding a “felustaður” (hiding place, or to them, a Feluleikur venue). “People enjoy going to a space where they only have an address to figure out where it is,” Hugi hypothesises. “Kind of like an adventure. You’re not just going to the same venues again and again.”  

But Feluleikur isn’t just about mitigating boredom through offering options outside the usual venue circuit. “I think people are excited about the idea of going to a concert that’s not at a bar because our shows are always all ages,” Stirnir notes. Often, younger music lovers can’t see some of their favourite artists perform because most venues are bars and they’re not allowed to enter. Further, Stirnir points out that “the biggest problem with concert venues downtown is hotels complaining about the noise.” Their last felustaður was in a concrete-walled basement. Even though the venue was on Laugavegur, you “couldn’t hear it at all if you were on the street.” 

Icelandic spontaneity  

Feluleikur also has a spontaneous ethos, much like a kid impulsively suggesting a round of hide and seek. “Most of the time we’re trying to do things really fast. We have like a window where we can get the space, then we have a few days to find everyone and then advertise it,” Hugi explains. Case in point: they tell me about the next Feluleikur during our interview, it is announced later that day, and is scheduled for this weekend. 

Þórhildur shares, “I love this spirit. I think it’s very Icelandic somehow. I live in Copenhagen, and I don’t think this would happen there.” I ask where they think this spirit comes from, and a silence washes over the group. Þórhildur almost whispers, “I’m just thinking about the cliche sentence. I don’t want to say it.” Hugi adds dramatically, “Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”  

Even if it is a bit of þetta reddast, the group also posits that Reykjavík’s size allows for information to travel quickly, which lets them announce Feluleikur events just a few days in advance. “People always show up, that’s never been a problem for us,” Stirnir says, with Þórhildur continuing, “Sometimes it’s just better when it’s at a faster pace.” Hugi adds, “I also feel like it’s in the spirit of the project. It isn’t announced way before; it just appears. 

A new spot, every time 

“Each location always opens up the possibilities for unconventional concertgoing experiences,” Stirnir says. “The third one, which was probably the craziest, we had a show inside an elevator.” More specifically, the elevator used for transporting art at The National Gallery of Iceland. “We were just so excited that when each band comes on, the elevator actually went up, and the door opened up,” Stirnir laughs.  

“It was like a curtain, a steel curtain,” adds Hugi. “I don’t know if anyone’s done that before,” Stirnir wonders, and he’s probably right.   

“That’s the aim, to have each Feluleikur different, so it’s a unique concert experience,” Þórhildur summarises. Contributing to this is their fundamental rule: “we never use the same felustaður twice.”  

However, there’s a second part to the rule that deserves equal emphasis. “Even though we have this rule that we don’t use each space twice, I think we would like to encourage people to use these spaces that we already have used!” Stirnir states. “Just do more events there, if you can. We’re trying to open people’s eyes to how many spaces there are, and how many spaces can be utilised for all types of events. So just look at all the locations we’ve used and do something there.” There’s no rule against using another player’s hiding spot in the next round — especially if it’s a good one. 

Feluleikur #5 will take place on Sunday, August 17 at 20:00, with artists Salóme Katrín, Iðunn Einars, Stirnir & Lindy, and MÚKK collective. You can find the location, which will be at a well-known artist’s house, by reaching out to @feluleikur_ on Instagram. They are also seeking more hiding spaces! If you know a good one, reach out to them