Trouble in Paradise
The town of Seydisfjördur, East Iceland
When people think of Iceland with its stunning waterfalls, volcanos, geothermal energy and no military presence, it seems idyllic. Yet, there is trouble brewing in paradise.
I’ve been staying for the past few days in Seydisfjördur, an arty town which has the only international ferry terminal in Iceland. It’s picture postcard material; the Nordic style houses are painted in bright colours and there is an iconic church with a rainbow coloured path leading up to it. The strong arts culture centres around the Skaftfell Arts Centre with a new director from the New York Met, (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Pari Stave, starting this month.
But I learnt that this town, and others like it in the beautiful east and west fjords in Iceland, are about to have major fish farms populating the waters. Licences have already been granted to the industrial farming of salmon despite concerns and criticisms from conservationists and wildlife experts.
A grass roots protest movement is forming to bring awareness of what this will mean to the environment and town ‘s population, and with Iceland government elections coming up, they might gain some influence.
The town is still recovering from a devastating avalanche which occurred in December 2020 when an unprecedented amount of rain fell in the area over five days and caused parts of the mountain to fall away. All 659 residents were evacuated but nearly 30 homes were damaged or destroyed. Restoration work is evident with new avalanche barriers, drainage pipes and road rebuilding, but the memory of trauma remains.
This high rainfall has been attributed to warming temperatures of climate change. It is one of the reasons I wanted to come to the town before starting my residency in the adjoining fjord. Rock avalanches are predicted to increase in vulnerable arctic areas as permafrost melts and rainfall and temperatures increase.
As an artist I bear witness and hopefully bring awareness to the courageous deeds of activists who seek to safeguard their environment. With the floods in my home town in northern New South Wales uppermost in my mind, it is important to know that climate change and environmental degradation affects all of us.
One thing I learnt during my artist residencies in Scotland, is that when we are connected to the land by a language of caring and guardianship, we are bound to protect it for future generations. It’s here long after we are gone.
From the memorial billboard showing where the avalanche happened. Photo by Òmar Bogason
A jumble of machinery still in piles after the devastation
