In the wake of the disastrous landslides that hit Seyðisfjörður in the week before Christmas, we would like to thank everyone involved in keeping the people of Seyðisfjörður safe and alive for their extraordinary work and spirit. We also want to thank everyone across the world reaching out to us and lending us their support from afar, it is so much appreciated. We are most grateful for not having lost any lives.
We are mourning the loss of some of Seyðisfjörður’s finest historical houses, and our thoughts are with the people who have lost all their belongings in this terrible incident. We are also mourning the major losses that our dear collaborator, the Technical Museum of East Iceland, has to deal with. It is heartbreaking to think about the Dieter Roth print workshop, the museum collection, Turninn, Skipasmiðastöðin, everything. We will do our very best to help in any way we can to save what can be saved. Experts from Minjasafnið will arrive after Christmas and start the process.
Now there is much to consider for the future of Skaftfell. The house itself had a lucky escape, but it is still located in a danger zone and we haven’t been allowed to fully inspect it yet. We will have to see whether there is any hidden damage and when we can use it again. Both gallery and bistro will remain closed until further notice. There have been extensive observations of the mountains above Skaftfell in the last couple of days, and we have been informed that there are some cracks in the surface material there. A plan for the construction of landslide barriers will be ready in the spring, according to the Ministry of Environment. Right now, the road to Skaftfell is still covered in a meter of mud. There is so much cleaning up work to do throughout town that it is quite overwhelming.
In the Skaftfell office we are taking a small break now over the holidays and will be back after the new year. Áfram Seyðisfjörður, áfram Skaftfell!
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár!
(photo taken from mbl.is)
