A few words from the curatorial committee

NOW (NÚNA) FESTIVAL JOINS FORCES WITH LÓKAL TO BRING WESTERN ICELANDIC ART, FILM, PERFORMANCE AND THEATER TO REYKJAVÍK AND HOFSÓS THIS SEPTEMBER 2-6.

Icelanders might be forgiven for thinking someone has left a truckload of smoked Manitoba Goldeye in downtown Reykjavík to grow warm and ripe in the sun. No, that smell is the approach of Now(núna), a festival of Western Icelandic culture that will bring art of all sorts to Iceland on the weekend of September 2-4, with an additional event in Hofsós on September 6.

For five years in Manitoba, Canada, six artists of Icelandic descent have mounted a program of events called Núna (now), in which Icelandic artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers, dancers and performers have been invited to show their work in Winnipeg and in the area known as the Interlake where hundreds of Icelanders settled many years ago. Now, in collaboration with the LÓKAL international theatre festival, the Núna (now) Curatorial Committee has decided to, in the words of CC member Caelum Vatnsdal, “bring the mountain to Mohammed for a change.”

The program includes The Island, a new performance piece from Núna (now) Curatorial Committee members Freya Olafson and Arne Macpherson of Winnipeg and Ingibjörg Magnadóttir and Friðgeir Einarsson of Reykjavík. Magus (Re) Genesis by Winnipeg artist Jaimz Asmundson is an experimental piece involving film, performance and sound; Sergeant & Victor is a one-woman performance piece by Deb Patterson which explores elements of the Icelandic settlers’ history in Winnipeg; and Phopophilia is the seductive concoction of 2boys.tv, a performing duo from Montréal.

The program also includes short films from Winnipeg director Matthew Holm, whose uproarious confabulations include The Lost Bundefjord Expedition and Man of the North-West. And, from 11:00 to 23:00 each day, in the lobby of the Tjarnarbíó, all are welcome to join in on the Collage Party, a free-wheeling (and free!) event in which anyone who likes can sit down and make some art of their own, or else just hang out and chat with the artists and the curators of Now (núna).

Also visit visit www.lokal.is for further info!