And busy it was. On Culture Night, or Menningarn\u00f3tt, over 100,000 people flooded into the downtown areas of Reykjavik where, just the week before, I\u2019d marched in support of LGBTQIA+ for the Pride Week (Hinsegin dagar; hinsegin is an adverb that means \u2018on the other side,\u2019 but is a generally accepted term for \u2018queer\u2019 & \u2018dagar\u2019 is the plural nominative form of \u2018dagur\u2019). And I thought to myself, it\u2019s just tourists, it\u2019s just locals drinking beer and enjoying free music<\/em>. But where was the culture? I hate to miss the obvious, but what is cultural about culture night, and how much does it have to do with Icelandic culture, if my friend was looking for an ‘Icelandic’ experience (exclusive of the broader definition of ‘culture’ – arts, media, technology, etc.)?<\/p>\n [Grammar alert<\/strong>: \u00a0menning<\/em> is in the genitive singular in the word\u00a0menningarn\u00f3tt<\/em>.]<\/p>\n \u2018Gakktu \u00ed b\u00e6inn!<\/strong>\u2019 is the theme of the festival, which lasts from 1pm, when the Reykjavik marathon kicks off, and ends with a spectacular fireworks display. \u2018Gakktu \u00ed b\u00e6inn\u2019 means \u2018come on in!\u2019 \u2013 sort of like the phrase \u2018ger\u00f0u svo vel,\u2019 which is most like \u2018please\u2019 or \u2018enjoy!\u2019 or even \u2018you first!\u2019 when you\u2019ve held the door for someone else. It also literally means \u2018walk to town.\u2019 I wasn\u2019t able to find a solid history of this phrase anywhere, but it does appear in the rhyme celebrating the month of g\u00f3a<\/em> (<\/em>begins somewhere between the 18th and 24th<\/sup> of February) the ladies\u2019 equivalent of b\u00f3ndadagur<\/em>, when the lady of the house hops around the farm in her undies, inviting g\u00f3a into the garden with this rhyme:<\/p>\n Velkomin s\u00e9rtu, g\u00f3a m\u00edn, Roughly:<\/p>\n Be welcome, my g<\/em>\u00f3a, <\/p>\n [Grammar alert<\/strong>: Note that\u00a0vorlangan daginn<\/em> is in the accusative case. Rule of thumb: duration is often marked with the accusative case in a given sentence, in the absence of a preposition. We’ll return to this later.]<\/p>\n ” \u00cdslendingar s\u00fdna \u00fe\u00fdskum fer\u00f0am\u00f6nnum gl\u00edmu \u00e1 Austurvelli sumari\u00f0 1925.” Photographer:Magn\u00fas \u00d3lafsson. Accessed: https:\/\/samkynhneigd.is\/images\/2017\/thorvaldur\/MAO-345w.jpg<\/p><\/div>\n So back to Menningarn\u00f3tt: the organizers of the festival were obviously emphasizing Icelandic hospitality \u2013 being a good host and a good guest. Offering coffee to visitors, even when you have little; the guest, in turn, perhaps doing odd jobs to help out of giving a small amount of compensation, if possible.<\/p>\n Perhaps that\u2019s what\u2019s at the root of it all; while there weren\u2019t streets full of Icelanders in traditional dress, visitors were invited into the Presidential residence. There were opportunities to learn about Viking culture and metalworking. Coffee and cakes were free on the streets of Reykjavik. A friend who runs the firm Huldufugl<\/strong> created a VR surrealist experience called The Box, in which you, the audience member, were trapped in an invisible box, with only one hope of getting out: a woman who appears in the box with you, but isn\u2019t actually there (VR).<\/p>\n The event itself seems to be rooted in Icelandic history, even though it’s a relatively new cultural celebration. In 1786, when the “einokunarverslun” — or exclusive trade –between Denmark and Iceland was abolished, Reykjavik was awarded status as a “kaupsta\u00f0ur,” or “market town,” which meant that it was afforded “kaupsta\u00f0arr\u00e9ttindi” – the right to host markets, open shops and factories, et cetera. At that time, five other locations were given status as ‘market towns’: Grundarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, \u00cdsafjar\u00f0arb\u00e6r, Akureyri, Eskifj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, and Vestmannaeyjar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not 1786<\/strong> Not 1786 By Valger\u00f0ur Tryggvad\u00f3ttir [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n And beyond its history as a celebration of, lets say, the commercial rights of Reykjav\u00edk, the night is \u2013 as culture is \u2013 a living being of its own, an exchange that takes place in open spaces and in dialogue. There’s an additional, perhaps coincidental, significance to the time of year during which Culture Night takes place: that day marks the beginning of the museums\u2019 and galleries\u2019 calendars of events \u2013 it is the New Year’s Eve of education, memory, creation.<\/p>\n To my ear, there’s a very pleasing etymological (and\/or sonic) relationship between those idea(l)s in Icelandic: menntun, menning<\/em>, minning. <\/em>\u2013 Education, culture, memory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Saturday, a friend and colleague (who I\u2019d never met before) arrived in Reykjavik. Belgian by birth, she is a world traveler, entrepreneur, artist, and yoga teacher. She\u2019d just returned from a trip to the desert, where she finds poetry, and was on her way to produce and direct an event in Antwerp called Po\u00ebziebordeel…<\/p>\n
\nog gakktu \u00ed b\u00e6inn;<\/strong>
\nvertu ekki \u00fati \u00ed vindinum
\nvorlangan daginn.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>and come on in!
\ndon\u00b4t<\/em> stay out in the wind
\n<\/em>all spring \/ all the live-long day<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/ve213-3.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/best-shops-in-reykjavik-a-local-guide-to-the-city-s-originals-25-1024x652.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/ve213-3-350x250.jpg\")