This weekend marks the end of the annual Reykjavik Arts Festival and we’re taking full advantage of it – an extra bonus for our tour. Today we experienced local crafts, dance, theater, ancient music and modern music. Plus a walk in the park and two dining experiences.
Thor took us down the hill to the center of Reykjavik where the national Parliament building, Prime Minister’s offices and Reykjavik Town Hall are located. The center is in fact the birthplace of Icelandic civilization: remains of a Viking settlement have been excavated there.
Nearby is the Icelandic Revenue Services building, the ground floor of which is a warehouse that on the weekends like today (Sunday) hosts a large flea market full of handmade goods, food and odds and ends you’d expect to find in a flea market. Judy found a neckless, which we purchased with Krona from the co-located ATM.
A portion of the warehouse has been temporarily curtained off to house the Arkiv Dance Installation, part of the Arts Festival. Four screens project dancers, each dancer taking about five minutes to perform. The entire cycle lasts 60 minutes. We stayed for perhaps 15 minutes.
A short walk brought us to a restaurant for lunch: lobster soup, pan-fried Plokkfiskur (cod, I think) and Arctic Char.
Next, to the Reykjavik Art Museum to see Las Vegan, an original play created for the Arts Festival on a makeshift stage, a warehouse-like space several hundred feet long with seats running down either side. To quote from the Las Vegan writeup:
Synopsis: When a child sees on TikTok that scientists believe the world will end in 2036, her mother decides to move the whole family to Las Vegas so that the child’s dream of learning mime can come true before it’s too late. In Las Vegas they are gradually drawn into the world of entertainment, as the woman gets involved in aerial gymnastics and the man begins to sing. Las Vegan deals with a fractured family – a couple at a crossroads while their child goes through a dark existential crisis and a lonely grandmother who goes on a crusade against the injustices of the world.
The words don’t give it justice: it was all that and more. First-rate acting, breathtaking acrobatics, costumes, music, action and props, which included a jeep-like vehicle driven from one end of the venue to the other. The family hoped their dreams of a better life would be realized in the USA, country of Las Vegas, the Bellagio, Elvis, the God Father, Al Pacino and so on.
Next, a 30-minute drive to the suburbs to a church (Lutheran, naturally) where Orn Maggnusun, the church’s organist and choir director, gave a concert using musical instruments from the time immediately following the Protestant Reformation (1500, give or take). Orn has researched the subject and, based on that research, craftsmen have constructed instruments that were lost with the advent of pipe organs in churches at that time.
That left us with 45 minutes to catch our breath before heading off to the Harpa for the Jacob Collier concert. Quoting from Sage’s description:
Although not an Icelandic musician, this young Brit is probably the most prodigal musician of the last one hundred years. Seeing him at Harpa with an Icelandic audience would be a real experience.
We walked down the hill and had dinner at the Harpa.
And the concert was hard to describe. Jacob Collier is an incredibly talented pianist and guitar player. He performed his own compositions plus his own interpretations of pop and jazz standards, often with a jazz interpretation. On several songs, he coached the audience to sing along in six part harmony – no kidding, six parts in different sections of the auditorium. Iceland has a strong choral tradition so many in the audience sang in perfect unison at their assigned pitch. A very enjoyable evening.
The Harpa is an impressive building, especially from the outside. It rivals, in its own way, the Sydney Opera House. The auditorium is nice but SOH gets the nod. Acoustically it’s hard to say since Collier’s performance was heavily amplified. But the Harpa has nothing to apologize for.
Tomorrow, June 17, is Iceland’s National Day, commemorating the day in 1944 when Iceland became a republic. We’ll join in the festivities and enjoy some more exposure to Iceland’s artistic culture.
