Nes Artist Residency - March Open Studios

Friday, March 28th

Open studios at NES

Our open studio last Friday was a huge success with over a hundred people showing up! Here are a few pics of my work and the other artists. What a splendid evening we had!

The new pieces I did in March.

Anna's work

Mie's work

Lucie's work

Marie and Nick's work

Below are all the artists who took part in the residency in March:

Anna Sigríđur Sigurjónsdóttir, myndhöggvari
Julieta do Vale, ljósmyndari frá Portúgal
Lucas Gervilla, videólistamađur frá Brasilíu
Lucy McKenna, málari frá Írlandi
Marie Brett & Nick Piper, innsetningalist, frá Írlandi
Mie Olise Kajærgaard, málari frá Danmörku
Nadege Druzkowski, málari frá Frakklandi
Noemí Romano, textil og tískuhönnun, frá Ítalíu

Akureyri

Akureyri

Sunday, March 22nd

On Sunday I headed to Akureyri,  Iceland's capital of the north. With a population of over 17,000, the town is the second biggest city of the country. Akuyeyri has wonderful coffee shops, art galleries and museums, bookshops but most of all a swimming pool!

Warmed by the geothermal energy, I enjoyed swimming in the open air when it was  -1° outside with nonetheless the sun shining. And you can dip in hot pots, the hottest pot at 43° (6 more degrees than the body temperature) slowly removing all weight sensation from your body. 

Akuyeri is surrounded by snowy peaked mountains and water. Apparently whales stayed the whole summer in the fjord surrounding the city. A few locals were passing time fishing on this Sunday afternoon. 

To add to the charm of the city, all red traffic lights are red shaped! Something to do with the city supporting a health cause.

Construction of a new concert house - Made out of stone and glass

Glaumbaer

On the way back, our small group stopped at Glaumbear where you can see farm buildings from the 19th century made out of turf. The place looks like it been taken straight out of fairy tale. People here must have enjoyed a happy life as Glaumbear means joyful farm (glaum is joy in Icelandic and baer = farm). 

Back and front of turf houses 

Kalfshamarsvik

Thursday, March 19th

Kalfshamarsvik

On Thursday Signy, a friendly local on the board of the NES residency, took a few of us for a little trip to Kalfshamarsvik, about 20 km from Skagastrond, a place which used to be a fishing village at the beginning of the 20th century before declining. The place has a bit of a surreal feeling with basalt column formations all around. 

The village

In the 1920's the village of Kalfshamarsvik counted about a hundred inhabitants living from fishing, specially exporting saltfish. The creek of Kalfshamarsvik provided a good natural harbour. However, after 1930 the number of inhabitants declined rapidly and the village was deserted in the 1940's. Remains of decrepit houses in turf can still be seen. 

The village declined after the price of saltfish dropped due to a world depression; the Spanish Civil War of 1936 made things worse, since Iceland exported much of  its fish to Spain. Icelanders searched for new ways of fish exports and this led eventually to the export of iced and frozen fish as well as the building of fish factories all over the country (like in nearby Skagastrond in 1938). This called for larger ships than before which in turn required better harbours. The small village of Kalfshamarsvik could not sustain fish industry on such a large scale and villagers moved away to larger communities. 

A giant Giant's Causeway

Like the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, Kalfshamarsvik has lots of basalt columns dipping into the sea but even bigger. Basalt is a volcanic rock type . Basal columns with polygonal and sometimes almost perfect hexagonal shapes are formed when the molten lava hits the surface. When the lava encounters either air or another cool rock, it cools down quite rapidly and by so doing starts shrinking. The shrinking process slowly develops into the depth, forming longer and longer columns.  

The Four Guardians of Iceland

Icelanders love stories. The following one is about the four Guardians Spirits who protect the people of Iceland. They are represented in the Icelandic coat of arms but Icelanders also carry these lucky charms everyday day with them in… their local coins! 

Here is the story described described by the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson in his Heimskringla [History of the Kings of Norway]:

“King Harald [Gormsson of Denmark] told a man versed in magic to travel to Iceland in a different shape and find out what he could learn there to tell him. The man set out in the shape of a whale. And when he approached land he headed west along the north coast. He saw that all the mountains and hills were full of land spirits, some large and some small. Off Vopnafjörður he entered the fjord, intending to go ashore. Then a huge dragon came down along the valley with a train of serpents, insects and toads breathing poison over him. 

He fled and went westward off the coast as far as Eyjafjörður and went into the fjord there. Then a bird flew towards that was so great that its wings spread over the mountains on either side of the fjord, and many other birds with it, large and small. 

He left there and continued westwards, then turned south into Breiðafjörður, and headed for the fjord. A large bull came towards him there, waded into the sea and began to bellow menacingly. A band of land spirits followed it. 

He headed south from there around Reykjanes and tried to go ashore at Vikarsskeið. A mountain giant came towards him there with an iron staff in its hands and its head higher than the mountains, and many other giants were with it. From there he went eastwards the length of the land, but “there was nothing but sand and deserts, and surf off the shore, with such a vast sea between the parts of land,” he said, “that a longship could not cross it.”

And so, thanks to the Guardian Spirits of Iceland, the King of the Danes intentions came to nothing. 

Skagafjörður

Skagafjörður

Friday, March 13th 

A short drive around Skagafjörður - the area around Skagastrond - led me to discover a stunning region whose sugar-powdered mountains surround the petrol blue coloured sea. This wild desolate landscape scattered with abandoned farms reminds visitors of how difficult life in isolated rural Iceland can be. 

Skagafjörður (Skaga means peninsula while fjörður means fjord) is renowned for its horse breeding and small herds of Icelandic horses can be seen all around. Sturdy and short - they look a bit like big poneys - they are still used on farms or more recreationally for visitors . They first arrived in Iceland with the early Norse settlers and since no other horses have been imported recently, the breeding stock has remained pure for more than a thousand years!

Dranley island

Drangey and Malmey islands

Guarding the mouth of Skagafjörður are the two uninhabitated islands of Drangey and Malmey. Havens for nesting birds, they are also linked to the Icelandic sagas, the great epics written in the 12th century. Grettir's saga recounts that Grettir an outlaw lived on the Drangley island with his brother Illugi for three years before being slain there. He supposedly swam to the shore - a good 6 or 7 kilometers away - , a feat undertaken recently by an Icelander that proves it could be done! On our way to go Grettislaug (Grettir's bath) a hot spring across the island, we eventually have to go back as the path reveals to be to deeply covered in snow. That, in spite of the super tank driven  Anna a fellow artist also part of the Icelandic rescue team. 

Sauðárkrókur

Sauðárkrókur is another fishing town of over 2,500 inhabitants (not bad by Icelandic standards) which boasts the only tanning factory specialized in sheep skins but also... fish skins! The most colourful fish skins can be bought for a few hundred kronurs. Wallets or even fancy dresses are made out of them.  

Leather made from the skin of the Nile Perch. 

Various kinds of fish skins are used: salmon, perch, wolffish or cod. 

All sorts of fur are processed here (even mink) and exported all over the world. This is also where the two polar bears that stranded in Skagafjördur last July ended after the police unsuccessfully tried to capture them.

In the heart of winter

Wednesday, March 4th

Snow storm

I have now passed my first snow storm in the North of Iceland. Gales battered the village all night and day and created snow dunes all around. First thing I did in the morning was dug out my window and clear the pathway.  Lucy and Lukas my two flat-mates and myself could eventually get out of the house today to meet the other artists at the studio.  I would never have thought that walking the 300 meters that separate the studio from the house could be such a feat! Now that the wind calmed down, it remains pretty cold: -8° says the weather forecast. 

Did you say knitting?

Wednesday nights are knitting nights in Skagastrond. Women meet at the coffee house (closed to clients in winter time) to knit and chat and drink coffee. That's how my first encounter with local people started around learning knitting the Icelandic way although knitting the famous yoke sweater might be a challenge for me.

Iceland has a long knitting tradition: it is a country of hardy long-haired sheep, whose wool is both soft and sturdy. Knitted and woven wollens have always been a necessity in the northern climate and knitting is still an important part of Iceland culture. Children as young as seven are taught the rudiments as part of their regular school curriculum. 

Friday, 6th March

Kantrybaer

Skagastrond claims the only country-music bar in Iceland and it is the hot spot in town on Friday night (the only night it opens in winter). That's where the young crowd gathers after a good few drinks at home. Locals did not show up until 1 am but with all the energy ready to party. 

Kantrybaer was founded by Hallbjön Hjartason nicknamed the 'Icelandic Cowboy'. He fell in love with country music when working on the American base in Keflavik in 60's. Even after moving back to the remote fishing community at Skagastrond, he kept his passion alive and founded Kantrybaer, released records and organised country music festivals. 

A few things I have learned

Girls add the suffix dòttir (daughter) to their family names and boys add son. Sigurðardóttir is the daughter of Sigurðar and Sigurðarson the son of Sigurðar. 

Reykjavik means Smoky Bay. Arnasson, credited for the first intentional settlement, called the place after the steam from thermal springs there.

17 June 1944 - the Republic of Iceland is formally established. Now celebrated as Independence day

A few pictures taken around Skagastrond - March 7th 2009

From Reykjavik to Skagastrond

Reykjavik

Friday, 27 February 

Après seulement trois heures de vol au départ de Londres, me voici en Islande. Ville d’arrivée : Keflavik, ville côtière à une cinquantaine de kms de Reykjavik qui abrite l’aéroport international. Dans le bus qui relie les deux villes défilent des paysages qui rappellent l’Ecosse ou la cote ouest irlandaise en un peu plus extrêmes : amas rocheux et neige donne un avant goût du grand Nord. 

Ma première journée à Reykjavik se fait sous un soleil lumineux qui renforce les couleurs des maisons aux toits rouges ou verts du centre ville. Pas de risque de dérapage dans le centre : trottoirs et routes sont dépourvus de neige grâce à un ingénieux système d’eau chaude qui court sous les routes. L’eau chaude est au coeur de la ville de Reykjavik: elle chauffe les maisons et alimente les piscines ouvertes ou fermées de la ville. Ma première séance de piscine se déroule ainsi en plein air. Alors que le thermomètre extérieur oscille entre 2° et 0° degrés et que les maîtres nageurs enfoncés dans leur anorak surveillent l’eau, les nageurs enchaînent les longueurs ou se prélassent dans les ‘hot pots’, équivalents de jacuzzis.

City Hall, Reykjavik

Reykjavik regorge de musées. Deux jours dans la capitale m’ont permis de découvrir entre autres : Alfred Floki, créateur d’un univers sombre et fantastique et Kjarval, qui avant de s’embarquer dans une carrière artistique et de devenir un des peintres les plus célèbres en Islande travailla comme pêcheur. Une visite au musée des arts dédiés au textile dévoile de fabuleux artistes dont le travail basé sur la laine et les fils crée des œuvres enchanteresses.

Le village au bout du monde

Monday, 1 March

Je quitte le nid douillet de mon amie Gudrun à Reykjavik pour Skagastrond. La route qui mène au Nord du pays est enneigée et notre traversée des Highlands est une petite aventure : le vent souffle fort et saupoudre allègrement la route de neige. Tant et si bien que bientôt nous ne distinguons plus les plots qui bordent la route tandis le ciel et le sol se fonde en une même couleur : blanc! Hrafnhildur Sigurðardóttir, la directrice de la résidence, nous mène néanmoins à bon port. Au bord de l’océan et au pied d'une montagne au sommet étrangement carré, nous arrivons à Skagastrond. Depuis la crise économique qui a frappé le pays en octobre dernier, la population se raréfie et s’élève à environ 550 habitants actuellement. L’activité première demeure la pêche en dépit de la fermeture d'une usine de poisson l'année dernière. Me voici donc installée dans ce qui va être mon studio pour les quatre prochains mois.

View from Skagastrond March, 2nd 2009

My working space at the studio