The Mission of the Tenement Museum, LES NYC
FULLSTERKUR: An Original Film By Rogue Fitness
“FULLSTERKUR is the third documentary in a collection of films produced by Rogue Fitness, exploring strength culture around the world, connected specifically by the ancient tradition of stone lifting. Nestled at the doorstep of the Arctic Circle, the country of Iceland is uniquely acquainted with the relationship between strength and survival. For hundreds of years, men and women were challenged to overcome harsh weather and endless winter nights by developing their own distinct physical and mental fortitude—passed down from the age of the Vikings, and iconically represented by the lifting of heavy stones. Today, on an island with a population of just over 300,000, a disproportionate number of the world’s greatest strength athletes still call Iceland home. The film features some of the modern stars of Iceland strength, including Magnus Ver Magnusson, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Annie Thorisdottir. But it also sheds light on strength culture’s early roots in the region, from the traditions of the Vikings and Sagas to the lives of farmers and fishermen.”
“Dynamic glaciers identified as cause of Southeast Alaska’s summer ‘ice quakes’”
Article by Matt Miller. Listen to the audio of a large iceberg in Antarctica scraping against the ocean floor or another iceberg and read the full article here.
Excerpt from the article:
“This year the ice quakes started in May, with a big spike in activity starting four days before late June’s heatwave in Southeast Alaska. Ruppert said there have already been a hundred ice quakes recorded so far in 2021.”
“Last year, glaciologist Jason Amundson of the University of Alaska Southeast actually flew out to investigate one of the bigger ice quakes near Wright Glacier and Mount Ogden on the United States-Canada border.
“The glaciers in that area are pretty small,” Amundson said. “To produce an earthquake like that, that could be detected regionally, you would need to have a pretty big event.””
All text cited is from Matt Miller, APM
Icelandic Cuisine in “New Iceland” Canada
““There’s a definite link between us,” the Icelandic president, Guðni Jóhannesson, said on a recent visit to Gimli. It’s a love affair that Donna Austfjord and others around Gimli will keep feeding.”
Read the full Atlas Obscura article here
New York Times: How Italians Became ‘White’
“This shows yet again how racial categories that people mistakenly view as matters of biology grow out of highly politicized myth making.”
“Cod population changed in response to intensified fishing”
“New research by scientists at the University of Iceland’s Research Centre of the Westfjords and their colleagues has revealed that the trophic niche of the Atlantic cod in Icelandic coastal regions remained stable for centuries, but changed in the 19th century alongside intensified fishing. It is likely that this reflects changes to both the age and size of the cod stocks, but also changes to marine food webs as populations fall due to extensive fishing and food chains shorten. The research was reported in Scientific Reports, a respected journal from the publishers of Nature. According to the authors of the study, the results underline the importance of conserving different migratory cod in Icelandic coastal regions, for example to boost the population’s resilience to environmental changes.
The research team included Guðbjörg Ásta Ólafsdóttir, biologist and director of the UI Research Centre of the Westfjords, and Ragnar Edvardsson, archaeologist at the Research Centre, along with their colleagues in Canada and Norway.
Guðbjörg Ásta and Ragnar have worked together for many years on interdisciplinary research into fish bones, particularly cod, that they have excavated from ancient fishing stations in the Westfjords. The oldest bones are 1000 years old. “The main aim of the research is to understand how changes in fishing and the marine environment have affected fish populations over the centuries. Using a data series spanning several centuries, we can establish a kind of baseline and try to estimate how extensive human exploitation could have affected marine ecosystems,” explains Guðbjörg Ásta. “
“Icelandic Hiking Association Opposes Paving Highland Road” Iceland Review
“Five Independence Party MPs have put forth a parliamentary resolution that would entail paving the 168km-long road that cuts across Iceland’s remote interior from north to south. According to FÍ, paving the road would increase traffic and negatively impact the experience of visitors, who seek out the region precisely because it is off the beaten path.”
Read the full Iceland Review article here.
Large-Scale Metal Prints – Iceland Series
Iceland Magazine: ’30 fascinating historic photos of Icelandic women and girls in traditional costumes’
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The Danish National Museum has a large collection of photographs, many of which are available online. Since Iceland was a part of the Danish Kingdom until 1944, the museum contains a fascinating collection of old photographs taken in Iceland around the turn of the century 1900. Among these collections is the Daniel Bruun collection.
Read more: Gorgeous images of Reykjavík in 1910s and 20s: A charming small town
Daniel Bruun was an officer in the Royal Danish Navy and a prolific archeologist and ethnographer. In the years 1881-82, 1893 and 1911 Bruun traveled widely in North Africa, excavating archeological sites in Tunisia and Algiers, as well as collecting a wealth of ethnographic materials.
He is best known for his archeological expeditions to Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, and his ethnographic studies of Iceland in the 1890s and first two decades of the 20th century. He is credited with having introduced modern scientific archeology to Iceland. He studied old Viking Age grave sites, mapping their locations and analyzing their contents. Among his achievements was finding the first boat grave in Iceland.
His study of Icelandic popular culture is also invaluable. Bruun collected hundreds of photographs of Icelanders in their daily lives, made sketches of farms and recorded working methods, customs and popular beliefs and practices which would otherwise have been lost.
These photographs are among the thousands of items from Bruun’s Iceland collection. They are taken over a long period, 1896 to 1927, and include photos of women and girls dressed up in their Sunday finest, as well as photos of farm women and girls working. We have examples of the more ancient Faldabúningur (easily identifiable by the elaborate hats), Peysuföt (more modest, traditional clothing, worn with Skotthúfa, caps with a tail) and Skrautbúningur, which was a 19th century version of the Faldbúningur.”
All writing and photographs are from Iceland Magazine, Photos by Daniel Bruun. See original article and more photos here.
Thora and Fauna 