Fire Starters: the women fighting to be vikings
- Text by Huck
Each year, the Scottish isle of Shetland plays host to Up Helly Aa – a renowned Viking festival characterised by singing, costumes, and fire-fuelled spectacles.
The one-day event has been lighting up the shores of Lerwick since 1876, and attracts visitors from all over the world. Primarily, they are there to see hundreds of men dress up in ornate Viking outfits and parade through the town’s streets, in a nod to their Scandinavian heritage. At the end of the day’s festivities, a large replica longship is set on fire.
Unfortunately, women are not invited. Despite the fact we are well into the 21st century, the Up Helly Aa organising committee has refused to allow any women or girls to be involved in the squads. Their argument, they say, is down to historical accuracy. “We’re described as being backwards, like if something is restricted to just men then we need some sort of reform,” explains Erik Moncrieff, a squad viking and festival volunteer. “But it’s not a serious issue. It’s absolutely and totally irrelevant.”
It’s a subject that is tackled in Fire Starters, a new Huck doc directed by Harriet Constable. The short film – viewable above – follows two young activists, Lindsey Manson and Izzy Gibson, as they try to gain access to the festivities and butt against tired old traditions.
“These women believe now is the time to speak out about their discrimination from taking part in Up Helly Aa as women, not just for themselves but also for their daughters, who are also excluded on the basis of their sex,” says Constable. “Up Helly Aa may indeed be the last public cultural event in the UK to openly exclude based on gender in this way.”
Watch the film in full above.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
Youthful joy & end-of-era poignancy at a London school prom
Leavers — For several years, Lewis Khan documented young people as they celebrated the last of their school days and the completion of their exams. The series is now collated in a new self-published photobook and short film.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
In the pit at one of the UK’s last stock car & banger speedways
Stock Car Racing Isn’t Dead — Photographer Liam McCarthy spent time in and around the Arlington Raceway’s circuit, capturing the diehard community that keeps the sport alive.
Written by: Isaac Muk
A major Nan Goldin exhibition is coming to London
You Never Did Anything Wrong — Opening at the Hayward Gallery in November, the show will debut a new film from the artist and activist, alongside a slate of recent work.
Written by: Jack Dennison-Thompson
Tender portraits of women serving life sentences in America
Looking Inside — While working as a public defender attorney in New York State, Sara Bennett found dilapidated prisons and forgotten people. Her new photobook harnesses the power of images and shines a humanising light on those imprisoned for serious crimes and their reintegration into society, while asking questions of the USA’s incarceration system.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Burning rubber with the Middle East’s women rally racers
Ripping dirt — Across the Middle East and North Africa, women are increasingly chasing the thrill of speed, competition and freedom that comes with driving on gruelling terrain, as well as podium positions. Roxana Diba speaks to trailblazers of the scene, who are reshaping ideas of what women are capable of behind the wheel.
Written by: Roxana Diba
Tish Murtha’s searing documentation of broken Britain
Vandalism on a Grand Scale — Capturing youth unemployment and poverty in north-east England during the ’80s, the photographer never lived to see her work published. A new photobook by British Culture Archive brings her eye-opening work to light.
Written by: Miss Rosen
