Winter Lights Festival
Here you find the complete winter lights festival schedule.
CURVER SÆR 1991-1994
He’s turned everyday things like eating hamburgers and tidying his room into a form of art, but it was through his not so everyday music that Birgir Örn Thoroddsen originally [&
HURTING MY DICK: A Review of the Rolling Stones
Charlie’s Good Tonight Charlie is brilliant and right on the button as usual. Track one on CD2 is the hottest version of “ NEIGHBOURS” I have ever heard! Now this […]
RUNNING A CAFÉ THE NON-CAPITALIST WAY
“Why Not Sell Coffee?” Helena, another of the owners, informs me that the original idea was to open up a culture/art-centre where all kinds of art could blossom. “But a [&hel
Elwis Has Left the Building
Desperate Middle-Aged People and Large Tuxedo-Clad Birds So it was with some trepidation that Grapevine’s correspondents entered Café Victor, situated close to Ingólfstorg squa
AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AND THE DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY
A nightmare scenario? Well, yes, and also the subject of a new play, American Diplomacy, written and directed by aspiring young playwright Þorleifur Arnarsson. Give or take the te
Ray: Heroin Addict, Womanizer, Musical Genius
Before the Beatles, there was Ray Charles. Staring Jamie Foxx, straight off his excellent performance in Collateral, as the man himself, with Kerry Washington as his wife, and Aunj
Hedging your bets on Bonaparte
Rome, June 1800. Napoleon has just invaded Italy. During the action the Austrian General Melas is reported to have defeated Napoleon and the consequent celebrations are likely to b
THE WESTMAN ISLANDS: The Atlantic Stopover for Puffins, Pirates and Superstar Killer Whales
The Westman Islands often seem far away from mainland Iceland, and while Iceland was for most of its history peaceful if poor, the Westmans have another story to tell. English [&he
More Money than You’ll Ever See Again
The reason for the curator being stripped of her powers to open museum doors is not due to a demotion on her part, but rather to the fact that inside […]
TEABAGS & TUNES
In fact, some of the lyrics to her songs date back to her childhood in Denmark, when at the age of eight or nine, Sigríður started writing rhymes as gifts […]
Voices in the Waterfalls
Rúrí represented Iceland at the 50th Venice Biennale 2003 with the multimedia installation Archive – endangered waters. The work is finally displayed in Reykjavík at the N
BOMBING-STARVATION-BOMBING:
When I first went to Saudi-Arabia in the summer of 1991, they hailed me as liberator. Granted, they mistook me for an American. These days, if Europeans are mistaken for […]
Us and them
Western Civilisation thinks in term of binary opposites. There’s black and white, left and right, men and women, us and them, truth and lies. This was particularly apparent durin
DO DEBTS ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO STUDY?
“It Encourages Them to Appreciate Their Studies More” Government MP Drífa Hjartardóttir, who has long experience with administering education at all levels in Iceland, is of
KÁRAHNJÚKAR: Colder Than Portugal and a Long Way From China
One Fatality So Far One important issue revolves around safety issues in general and training qualifications of foreigners working at the site. All workers at power plant sites mus
LIVING THE GOOD LIFE ON A MINIMALIST BUDGET
“Grant me two coins, one to buy bread and sate my hunger, the other to buy a flower and enjoy the beauty of life.” As a student in the city […]
THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE
It used to be terribly expensive to get away from here. There were only flights available through one airline and a ferry that only sailed during the short summer to […]
Learning Icelandic the Easy Way. Can It Be Done?
The very first phrase I learned in Icelandic was “the gramophone is on the table.” It’s not something I have had much cause to say in Iceland, or indeed, anywhere. […]
Religion without God
This definition fits the descriptions of God as given by the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), along with their offshoots, and two of the other
Echoes of the PastEchoes of the Future
A woollen raincoat cased in transparent plastic, ice cubes in the shape of Iceland, (Klakinn, as they call it), a sphere of lava as a mobile dwelling for hidden people. […]