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ICELAND REVIEW 3
4 FROM THE EDITOR
6 CULTURE CLUBFashion, books, films, music, art, photography, design and so much more.
14 DESIGNMARCH 2012A handful of highlights from Iceland’s most important design festival.
18 DESIGNING A SOCIETYThe Iceland Design Centre promotes and supports Icelandic design. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its director Halla Helgadóttir.
22 NO STRINGS ATTACHEDActor, director and international film star Gísli Örn Garðarsson interviewed by Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir.
24 LITTLE TALKS WITH THE SEXTETTriumphing on the global charts with their debut album, Of Monsters and Men is Iceland’s latest and greatest music export.
26 THE STORYTELLERWith his lyrical, perceptive and humorous style, Einar Már Guðmundsson has established himself among Iceland’s greatest authors.
30 SCENT FROM THE FUTUREWith her fresh approach to fragrance, visual artist Andrea Maack has unintentionally conquered the world of high-end perfume. By Ásta Andrésdóttir.
36 HOLLYWOOD COMES TO ICELANDWhy has Iceland become such a sought-after Hollywood movie set? Jóhannes Benediktsson investigates.
38 LIVING DAYLIGHTSIn Iceland, the night is the best part of the day to take photo-graphs. At least according to Páll Stefánsson.
50 RED HERRINGEntrepreneur Róbert Guðfinnsson has big plans for his home town, Siglufjörður, North Iceland. By Páll Stefánsson.
54 WHERE THE EAGLE FLIESPáll Stefánsson visited the picturesque coastal town of Stykkishólmur.
62 LIVING WITH THE KRÓNAShould we hold on to the Icelandic króna as our currency?
66 THE TEACHER IN THE TREASURYA newcomer in politics, Iceland’s Minister of Finance Oddný G. Harðardóttir has marked a clear path out of the economic crisis. By Höskuldur Daði Magnússon.
70 CASTING YOUR FLY IN A FISHERMAN‘S PARADISEIceland is the ultimate country for fly-fishing.
74 BEST FOOD FORWARDPhotographer and food expert Áslaug Snorradóttir pays tribute to a bygone culinary era.
80 FOR THE LOVE OF FOODEygló Svala Arnarsdóttir visited Frú Lauga, a family-run store specializing in delicious, organically grown food.
82 FIVE WAYS TO SPEND A REYKJAVÍK AFTERNOONStunning architecture, fresh food, cutting-edge design, soaking with the locals and chocolate-dipped ice cream. What more could one ask for?
86 FACTS & FIGURES
96 LAST PAGEThe first actual day of summer in 101 Reykjavík. By Páll Stefánsson.
CONTENTS
ICELAND REVIEWATLANTAA ICA
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4 ICELAND REVIEW
More than a millennium separates Egill Skallagrímsson and Sigurður Pálsson. Both are poets, the works of both have
been translated by Bernard Scudder, and both are big players in Icelandic culture, then and now.
Has Icelandic culture changed through the centu-ries?
When he was seven, in the year 917 AD, during winter games, Egill drove an axe into ten-year-old Grímur’s head, killing him instantly. When he re-turned home his father was indifferent but his mother, Bera, said he had the makings of a true Vi-king. His response;
My mother saidI would be boughta boat with fine oars,set off with Vikings,stand up on the prow,command the precious craft,then enter port,kill a man and another.
Today, as they did one thousand years ago, our skalds write poems about our everyday life. Here is a recent one by Sigurður Pálsson.
There is almost nothing missingfrom my housealmost nothingthe chimney´s missingThat grows on youThe walls are missingand the pictures from the wallsTake that as it isBut it´s cosy, my housePleaseThere´s not much missingfrom my houseThe chimney´s missingIt won´t smoke in the meanwhileThe walls are missingand the windowsand the door
What is missing in this issue of Iceland Review is the killings, but we have the Monsters in OMAM. We have the culture. Lots of it. We tell you about the new book, Icelandic Poetry. We look at the latest fash-ion designers, and we talk to two strong women, the visual artist / perfume designer Andrea Maack, and the head of the Iceland Design Centre, Halla Hel-gadóttir. Photographer Áslaug Snorradóttir shows us some new food designs. We have music, films, and even more films, and we talk about some serious stuff with our new Minister of Finance, Social Dem-ocrat Oddný Harðardóttir. Not to forget the über designer of words, writer Einar Már Guðmundsson. His new essay, “The Story of the Long Cake,” is funny and political. Perhaps he is the last commu-nist, a good balance to our story on the last capitalist, Róbert Guðfinnson, an international entrepreneur who is turning his interest to the place where he grew up, Iceland s northernmost town, Siglufjörður. So this number of Iceland Review includes no killings, but poetry, design, economics, more design, film, politics, and some lone rocks on a pebble beach. And some welcome wind. Welcome and Bon Voyage to planet Iceland.
Páll Stefánsson
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION (WORLDWIDE) USD 40 or equivalent in other currencies. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Submissions should be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope and an international money order to cover postage, if return is required. No articles in this magazine may be reproduced elsewhere in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. ISSN 0019-1094. Iceland Review (ISSN:0019-1094) is published quarterly by Heimur hf. in Iceland and distributed in the USA by SPP 75 Aberdeen Road Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Iceland Review P.O. BOX 437 Emigsville PA 17318-0437.
Publisher Benedikt JóhannessonHead OfficeHeimur hf.Borgartún 23, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
Tel: (+354) 512 7575 Fax: (+354) 561 8646 [email protected] in Iceland by Oddi
KILLING, CULTURE, THE
CAPITALIST AND THE
LAST COMMUNIST
EDITOR
Páll Stefánsson
DEPUTY EDITOR &
FEATURES EDITOR
Ásta Andrésdóttir
DESIGN
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Ann SassBjarni BrynjólfssonBenedikt JóhannessonEygló Svala ArnarsdóttirHöskuldur Daði MagnússonJóhannes BenediktssonValgerður Þóroddsdóttir
CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Áslaug SnorradóttirGeir ÓlafssonPáll Kjartansson
WEB EDITOR
Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir
COPY EDITOR
Ann Sass
PRODUCTION
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
COLOR PRODUCTION
Páll Kjartansson
ADVERTISING SALES
Helga Möller
COVER PHOTO
Páll Kjartansson
Advertising Sales [email protected] daily news from Iceland: www.icelandreview.com
ICELAND REVIEW
ATLANTICA
FROM THE EDITOR
FASHION FORWARD
Last March, Harpa sparkled like never before as 11 of Iceland’s finest fashion designers presented their autumn/winter collections at the Reykjavik Fashion Festival. Currently in its third consecutive year, the festival has gone from strength to strength, attracting guests from every corner of the globe. In addition to the shows, guests were treated to a series of parties and events, including interactive panels and lectures by the world’s leading figures in the industry. We’re already looking forward to next year. ÁA
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ICELAND REVIEW 7
Ella
Ýr
Kron by Kronkron
Ziska
Kormákur & Skjöldur
NO STRINGS ATTACHED BY VALGERÐUR ÞÓRODDSDÓTTIR
PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON
Besides being the driving, creative force behind the theater collective Vesturport,Gísli Örn Garðarsson is an actor, director and international film star in his own right. His accolades
abroad and at home make him one of this country’s most successful actors to date.
22 ICELAND REVIEW
THE STORYTELLER PHOTO BY GEIR ÓLAFSSON
Earlier this year, the Swedish Academy awarded Icelandic author Einar Már Guðmundsson the Nordic Prize for Literature. Founded in 1986 and often called the Little Nobel, it is the Nordic countries’ most prestigious award. Born in Reykjavík in 1954, Einar Már is the most widely translat-
ed Icelandic author born in the post-war period--a novelist, short-story writer and poet. A storyteller with a lyrical, perceptive and humor-ous style, he charts the growth of urban culture in the capital and the larger-than-life characters that it spawns. As we congratulate Einar Már on this award, we would like to treat
our readers to a sample of his work. The following is an excerpt from his latest book Bankastræti núll in which he, with his unrivalled wit, discusses current affairs in a wide context. ÁA
26 ICELAND REVIEW
30 ICELAND REVIEW
BY ÁSTA ANDRÉSDÓTTIR
PHOTOS BY PÁLL KJARTANSSON
AND COURTESY OF SPARK DESIGN SPACE
ARTWORK BY ANDREA MAACK
SCENT FROM
THE FUTUREWith her fresh approach to fragrance, Icelandic visual artist Andrea Maack has set a new standard. What started out as conceptual art has in only a few years turned into a high-end perfume brand, available in the world‘s finest stores. And she’s only just begun.
36 ICELAND REVIEW
Picture this. You’re sitting in a darkened cinema with your buddy, watching a Hollywood film. The US army has invaded a small Japanese island and is being attacked by snipers. All of a sudden, your buddy appears onscreen. He’s running up the hill with a rifle in hand when he takes multiple bullets to the chest. In the next frame, your friend is lying
in the black sand, spitting out blood. What a mess! This may sound far-fetched but it was actually the case. In 2006,
Clint Eastwood shot his film Flags of our Fathers on the Reykjanes Peninsula. He was looking to simulate the characteristic black sand beaches of Iwo Jima. My buddy served and died in Eastwood’s army. As an extra.
In recent years Iceland has been the playground for several major Hollywood film projects. Jóhannes Benediktsson dug into the matter for Iceland Review.
The Clint Eastwood film Flags of Our Fathers (2006), was shot at Reykjanes Peninsula, not far from Reykjavík.
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ICELAND REVIEW 47
Close to midnight, glowing moss and rocks in Skötufjörður fjord, in the WestFjords Hasselblad CW503/120mm.
LAST PAGE
PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON
96 ICELAND REVIEW
