MELUR MATHÚS

Kjartan Óli Guðmundsson,
Signý Jónsdóttir,
Sveinn Steinar Benediktsson

Food performance
Reykjavík / 2020

Melur mathús is an ongoing series of events, focusing on a wild plant native to Iceland called lyme grass (melgresi). In these series of events, we invite people to a dinner party where everything from food to tableware is made from lyme grass. Lyme grass is a plant that has the ability to grow on black sands where no other plants can grow: its long roots bind the black sand and provide it with nitrogen, changing shifting sands to fertile soil. A single plant of lyme grass binds more co2 than a fully grown birch tree and has a much shorter growing time. The main goal of the events is to bring attention to both its rich cultural usage and its future possibilities, sprouting a conversation about the plant’s ability for soil conservation on the black sands of Iceland.