Love Speech | Wordshop with Miriam and Friðrik

Miriam Petra Ómarsdóttir Awad and Friðrik Agni Árnason invited us to think about what makes an Icelander an Icelander? What person do we picture when we hear the word Icelander? What kind of Icelanders are we and are we recognised as equally icelandic when we have mixed background? And what about Icelanders of color? We challenged the image that comes to mind when we picture an Icelander. Do we need new words to describe our lived experiences as Icelanders of mixed origins? We reflected on what words were used to describe us and created new Icelandic words to better describe our reality.

„Við erum öll bara Íslendingar og það ætti að vera nóg sem svar - en við þurfum samt oft að útskýra það með auka orðum því fólk tekur ekki mark á skýringum okkar.“ Miriam Petra og Friðrik Agni

The workshop created a space for beautiful exchange and many words came out of the 2 hour brainstorming process: fjöllendingur, kokteill, hérlenskur, bragðarefur, píosý Íslendingur (P.O.C. person of color) and many more: 

The workshop was part of the Love Speech library project. A project that emphasizes lived realities, emotional literacy and ownership of the Icelandic language. As the title of the project implies, the emphasis is on playing with words and all those involved in the project are therefore encouraged to create new Icelandic words. The words are then collected in a new dictionary which is kept in the Reykjavik City Library and available to consult on location. In addition to the object of the dictionary, we are creating a platform to discuss what is dear to us - our experience of communication.

More information:
Martyna Karolina Daniel
martyna.karolina.daniel@reykjavik.is