Nothing stops Iceland's art scene

Interior of Harpa concert and conference hall, Reykjavik, Iceland.

If you fly Icelandair, you will notice little things throughout the plane that show just how proud Icelanders are of their country. There are little things, like headrests that say "Hi in Icelandic is simply 'hæ' and it is pronounced the same way." Or you may also see little cups printed with the 14 different ways of saying the word 'cup' in Icelandic.

If you scroll through the entertainment media system (the first time I've seen an entertainment system on a plane after ages of having flown budget airlines!) there is a documentary on the building of Harpa, which is Iceland's only concert hall.

You read that right. Harpa is Iceland's only concert hall.

For a musician, I find that baffling - that an entire country can have only one dedicated concert hall, and that concert hall took until 2011 to build. I'm used to the availability of multiple performance venues, and especially for a country as full of musicians as Iceland, I'm amazed that their first dedicated concert hall took this long to build.

The documentary does explain that there was a fair amount of opposition for a dedicated concert hall in a country of merely 320,000 people. But that doesn't stop my jaw from dropping. I can't imagine a city without arts facilities.

I have to say though, I guess after having waited until 2011 for their concert hall, the Icelanders really got it right.

Kaldalón, the smallest of Harpa's four halls.

Harpa doesn't blend in very well with the rest of Reykjavík's comparatively subdued architecture. Scratch that - Harpa doesn't blend in at all.

While the rest of Reykjavík is small, low to the ground and unimposing, Harpa is a huge massive steel and glass structure built right on the water and with an amazing view of the volcanic mountain range Esjan in the background.

Ongoing preparations for Design March.

Today, Harpa is well-received by Iceland's arts community, and sort of presents itself the same way that the Esplanade is to Singapore. Arts events of all kinds are common here, and the conference halls of Harpa double up as smaller arts venues when the 1800-seater Eldborg concert hall isn't required.

While I was there, the design festival Design March (aptly held in March! Ha ha!) was to be held. Unfortunately it was difficult for me to truly understand the ideas behind the design because, apart from my not having actually had any training in design, all the cards explaining them were in Icelandic! D'oh.

Designs on display at Design March.

A magnetic, blackboard-painted clock face. I'd sure like to have one of those!

Design March displayed the newest trends in all things Icelandic design, mostly instantly recognisable Scandinavian home styles and furniture, as well as fashion. Like most of Scandinavia, Iceland has a waste-not attitude in design, keeping things stylish and minimalist. Living in a landscape as harsh as that of the arctic north really forces you to be conscious of things like this!

A Steinway Model D being tuned in Norðurljós, the recital hall.

On the daily guided tour of Harpa, a guide explains the ideas and concepts for each aspect of Harpa's structure. The bricks that make up the multifaceted exterior and interior are shaped to resemble basalt columns, which are common in the Icelandic landscape.

Each of Harpa's four halls, Eldbord, Norðurljós, Silfurberg and Kaldalón, have derived some aspect of their design from some aspect of Icelandic nature; the purple and pink lighting in Norðurljós for example has been designed to resemble purple and pink aurora.

Multifaceted interior of Harpa.

When Iceland's economy went bust in 2008, the then-half completed construction in Harpa nearly stopped altogether; it was only after long discussion that the government decided to allow construction on Harpa to continue, even though it was to continue to be a tremendous financial strain on Iceland's economy.

I'm always glad when the arts are supported, and triple that if people are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them going even when the outlook looks bleak.

The stage of Eldbord, Harpa's biggest hall.

At 1800 seats, Eldbord is a respectably sized full concert hall. It also doubles as a theatre, which surprised me when I heard it because I am used to full theatres with a proper backstage, fly bars, orchestra pit and the works. To have a concert hall double as a theatre is very unconventional.

Iceland still does not have a full dedicated theatre, and when the Icelandic Opera was invited to move into Harpa, it took a great deal of negotiation and adjustments before they agreed to the move. Even today, theatrical productions here are designed and staged very differently from most theatre companies;  there is a sound reflector on the ceiling where the fly bars should be, and I can imagine building any sort of background would be a challenge.

Seats in Eldborg concert hall.

Interior of Harpa.

With so many buildings these days being steel-and-glass monstrosities, it's easy to dismiss Harpa from the outside as being just another one of those buildings. But as the country's first ever dedicated concert hall, there is definitely a reason for Iceland to be proud.