STARA - 16.04.2015, Side 56

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You cannot view the founding of SÍM without
mentioning the Interest Organisation of Visual
Artists (Hagsmunafélag myndlistamanna, or
HM), which is all but forgotten today and the
younger generation maybe never knew existed.
HM was founded because most of the young
progressive artists had been denied access to
the Society of Icelandic Artists (Félag íslen-
skra myndlistarmanna or FÍM). The main
reason was they did not practice the type of
art deemed acceptable to other members. It
may strike people as strange now but the social
structure at the time was completely different
and our country was fairly isolated from the
rest of the world with regard to visual arts as
well as other types of art. Young artists stayed
abreast though and both explored and discov-
ered within themselves fresh currents which
coursed through the Western world. A lot of
bickering would ensue, concerning ideology
and movements, and after years of conflict a
group of those “outsiders” decided to try to
unite and utilize their strength in building a
better art environment in this country. Thus
the Interest Organisation of Visual Artists was
formed in order to provide shelter for “exiled”
artists and unite all the groups under one roof.
A clause in the statute stated that once an um-
brella organization was formed HM would be
disbanded.
I was asked to take over as chairman of the
HM board just after I finished studying in
the Netherlands in spring 1982. At the time
Richard Valtingojer had been chairman since
its inception. He had done great work and
wanted to step aside. I thought long and hard
but in the end relented and was voted chairman
at an annual meeting. With me on the board
were, among others, Gylfi Gíslason and Guðrún
Erla Geirsdóttir (Gerla). We agreed to focus
on one goal exclusively: To unify all the visual
artist groups in the country. We contacted all
the chairmen of the other groups and quickly
The origin
of SÍM
Today it seems as if SÍM has always existed and the great
strife between artists about trends and movements nev-
er existed in Iceland. It is therefore in order to recollect
the origins of The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists
(SÍM) which was founded just over 30 years ago. It is a
long time in a person’s life but not at all on art´s calen-
dar. During these ruminations I will give an overview of
the history and origin of SÍM, which f lourishes now more
than ever.
Þór Elís Pálsson