Icelandic artist Björk is working with the Heart of Iceland organization, an environmental group for the country, to call for a worldwide protest to save Iceland’s highlands from construction.
The musician and organization met in the capital of Reykjavik to give a surprise press conference on the subject, according to Consequence of Sound. Specifically, they want people to protest against the construction of an energy line planned to be built over 10 years’ time to provide power to England from Icelandic volcanoes.
The protest is meant to last 11 days and exposes the government plan, which involves the power line cutting through dams and power plants throughout the country. Iceland residents can participate by sending an email to skipulag@skipulag.is to sign a petition within the next 11 days. Those outside the country have already garnered lots of support for a petition, with more than 70,000 signatures protesting the construction. About the petition support, Björk said,
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!
Björk also spoke on the subject of protecting Iceland and its geography during Friday’s press conference, explaining why the protest is necessary for the people and the land of their country, as well as the world:
There are laws here for wild animals, you can’t hunt them unless you have permission. 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. 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.
Earlier this year, Björk was forced to cancel tour dates in Europe due to the emotional strain of the performances. She also announced strings-only version of her Vulnicura album. You can watch video from the press conference with Björk and the Heart of Iceland below.
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