Icelandic experimental musician Björk, along with environmentalist group the Heart of Iceland, held an unannounced press conference in Reyjkavík, Iceland this morning (Nov. 6) to ask the world for help in supporting an environmental protest against their government who plans to build power lines through the Iceland Highlands.
According to a press release, the protest is to begin immediately and will last for 11 consecutive days. The protest will serve to prevent irreversible damage to the Highlands and will aim to funnel the allotted resources towards creating a national park, something that Björk's organization Gætum Garðsins ("Protect the Park") rallies behind and the majority of Icelanders support, as shown by a recent poll.
"There are laws here for wild animals, you can't hunt them unless you have permission," she said. "The same should be for our nature, but it is not so. Right now there are over 50 energy-harnessing requests in the system, but no 'Leave nature alone' requests. Nature has no lawyer to defend her case."
The artist continued, "Iceland is a magic place, and what's so amazing is that the proportion is pretty special. A vast wilderness means there's no infrastructure, so you can get things done here so easily. The nation joins together, but what's also scary is when the bank crash happened, the government, who has only been in power for two years, used 80 areas to harness energy resources from, and now they've reduced that down to 54... We can't go the legal route. The only way is to tell the world about it and get the people to look at their conscious, and the government of Iceland should be thinking along similar lines."
The singer has shared a video message which can help further explain the protest's goal. If you're interested in getting involved, you can sign a petition via skipulag@skipulag.is in Iceland and via heartoficeland.org worldwide.
Björk, who released her most excellent new album Vulnicura earlier this year, made sure to remind fans how important this issue is. "This is just the beginning," she said. "We are all volunteering our free time; we're artists pretending we're good at statistics and megawatts. It's very DIY, so we have to improvise and we're making it up as we go. We're trying to re-define Iceland and make sure there's room for everyone: tourists, farmers and Icelanders. Just saying you agree with us means a lot. If you get foreigners supporting our views, it mirrors back here to the people in power and they listen to us crazy artists!"
