SILVURDRONGUR
Saturday 19 October, 9:00 pm
Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine
SILVURDRONGUR (Faroe Islands)
Silvurdrongur’s sonic journey traverses the dark, alien landscapes of the Faroe Islands in an electro-acoustic collage of genres and themes. Silvurpláta, the artist’s debut album, has been recently released alongside the poetry collection Silvurbók and the short film 111 góðir. The impact of these works on the quiet and reassuring art scene of the Faroe Islands was as shattering as the reception was enthusiastic. A fairy tale in the enchanted world of the Faroese woods, narrated in one of Europe’s smallest languages.
INTERVIEW WITH SILVURDRONGUR
What is an untranslatable phrase, an expression or a word in your language that you love? And why?
In Faroese, we say “Nú?”, which means “now”, but it can mean all kinds of things, depending on your tone of voice: Hello / How’s it going / What’s going on? / What the hell is going on here?! / What are you/they doing?! / etc. I like it because of its versatility, and I find it very funny when the older generation uses it in an angry tone. Always makes me laugh.
What are 3 adjectives you would use to describe your language? Why did you choose them?
OBSCURE, DIVIDED, PARANOID.
Obscure because it’s tiny and not many people know about it, let alone speak it. Less than 100,000 people around the world understand it.
Divided because Faroese people argue a lot about the language, how it should be spoken, what is the right way to say something. There are two major camps: The purists and the laissez-fair people. I like to oscillate between the two.
Paranoid because Faroese people are always afraid of outside-influence. It used to be Danish, back when we were a Danish colony, but now it’s English – since the whole world is an American colony, culturally speaking. It’s a constant fear in the conversation about Faroese language.
Some people think that making music/art in a minoritized language closes many doors – what are instead the doors that it has opened to you?
I travel quite a bit with my two bands (AGGRASOPPAR and Silvudrongur), and that is partially because we use our native tongue in a unique way. Many people find that very interesting and compelling, although some find it alienating, of course, especially because my music is quite centered around words instead of melodies.
If you could make an appeal to anyone to keep their language alive, what would you recommend? What do you see as the biggest challenges or difficulties to maintain your language?
Make art with it: Poetry, stories, music, films, cartoons, etc. Make content with it: Videos, educational material, comedy, and so on. Have fun with it: Don’t strangle it. Let it live.
How would you respond to someone who considers your language old and obsolete?
They would be wrong. It’s young and alive. It wasn’t formed until the 1880s, and it’s still actively in use, being shaped and moulded.
A short sentence to describe your music
It’s violent like a nice breeze on a sunny day in Antarctica.