The Trailblazery are making a special pop up appearance on Culture Night and hosting a salon at The Royal Irish Academy of Music. Our Rites of Passage project is up and away and we want to celebrate on Culture Night with a evening of words and music from Iceland and Ireland. We are beyond thrilled to host one of Iceland’s most provocative cultural voices Andri Snær Magnason – author of Dreamland,LoveStar, The Story of the Blue Planet, Bonus Poetry and more. He will be joined by our very own Rites of Passage celestial songstress Nina Hynes and guests.
Andri Snær Magnason is an Icelandic writer who has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories, essays and CD’s. He is the codirector of the documentary film Dreamland. His work has been published or performed in more than 30 countries. His novel, Lovestar was nominated for the Philip K Dick Award 2013, was chosen “Novel of the year” by Icelandic booksellers and received the DV Literary Award. His children’s book, The Story of the Blue Planet, was the first children’s book to receive the Icelandic Literary Prize and has been published or performed in 26 countries. The Story of the Blue Planet received the Janusz Korczak Honorary Award 2000 the West Nordic Children’s Book Prize 2002 and The Green Earth Honor Award 2013. The play from the story has been performed in theaters in Finland, Swiss, Iceland and Canada. Andri has collaborated with various artists, mostly with a band called múm. Andri has been active in the fight against the destruction of the Icelandic Highlands. His book – Dreamland – a Self Help Manual for a Frightened Nation takes on these issues. Dreamland has been published in English, Danish, German, Spanish and Japanese and has become a feature length documentary film. Footage from Dreamland and an interview with Andri can be seen in Charles Ferguson’s Oscar winning documentary – Inside Job. Andri Magnason is the winner of the Kairos Award of 2010 – granted by the Alfred oepfer Institute in Hamburg. https://andrimagnason.com/
Nina Hynes: Singer-Songwriter and Sonic Enchantress. Nina has been writing songs since she was eight years old. At an early age she toured with experimental composers Hector Zazou and Brian Eno collaborator Harold Budd. Nina continued touring across America and Europe supporting Roxy Music, Terry Callier, Smog, Stereolab, Cat Power, Julee Cruise, David Gray, Glen Hansard and Damien Rice. Jane Birkin covered one of Nina’s songs on one of Hector Zazou’s last albums,Strong Currents. With a diploma in sound engineering and music technology, Nina has released four albums: Creation(1999), Staros (2002), Really Really Do (2007) and Dancing Suns Goldmine (2012), along with various EPs. She lives in Berlin with a fellow Dancing Sun and their daughter. Nina loves Christmas songs and cooking. I have learned that I need to share my music. I need to feel that others can relate and dream to it like I do. http://ninahynes.bandcamp.com/