LIVERPOOL is about to receive an 800th birthday present with a difference in the guise of a festival showcasing the best in arts and culture from the people of Iceland.
ICE07 runs from Thursday to Sunday at a number of venues around the city, incorporating band nights, a film festival, photographic and design exhibitions and other events.
It is the brainchild of festival director Ingi Thor Jonsson, who moved to south Liverpool two years ago after spending 14 years in London and Manchester.
Mr Jonsson forged an instant bond with the city and went about creating an event that would help promote his native land and serve as an 800th birthday present to his adopted home.
“Getting ICE07 together has been a fantastic exper- ience,” he said. “You couldn’t do this anywhere else. The people of Liverpool have been so helpful and so incredibly welcoming.
“I’m proud to be a Scouser – I have the best of both, so am able to bring the best of Nordic arts and culture to Liverpool. We are the only country giving Liverpool a birthday present.”
The festival kicks off on Thursday with a musical showcase at the Barfly on Seel Street featuring Icelandic artists Mugison, Petur Ben and Kaya .
On Friday the Ice Cool design exibition is open over three days in the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo building between 10am and 7pm and will feature the work of more than 20 artists and designers of jewellery, sculpture, furniture and more, all of which will be for sale.
Photographer Hafdis Bennett, the mother of shoe designer LK Bennett, has commissioned new work especially for ICE07 and her contemporary Ragnar Axelsson brings his first UK exhibition in 15 years to Liverpool – both can be seen in the Colonnades of the Albert Dock for the duration of the festival.
On Sunday, the Barfly will again be the host for Reykjavik Nights, featuring acclaimed electronic acts SvenBit, Bloodgroup and Sometime.
Icelandic cuisine will be on offer at Room on Castle Street, as Ragnar Omarsson, one of Reykjavik’s top chefs, takes up in the kitchen.
There will be a special Icelandic service at St Nicholas’ Church, during which the winners of ICE07’s schools short story competition will be announced.
The Fact centre on Wood Street will be screening three Icelandic films – Heima, the documentary about one of the country’s biggest exports, the band Sigur Ros (Friday); comedy 101 Reykjavik (Saturday); and Screaming Masterpiece, another documentary about the island’s music scene, including Bjork.
The festival secured the support of the Icelandic Embassy and plans are in the pipeline to roll ICE07 out to incorporate all Scandinavian countries for 2008. Mr Jonsson said: “ICE07 is unique. I’m very excited .”
* SEE Peter Guy’s review of the new Sigur Ros LP and more music news at: www.peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk
