The Icelandic Canadian - 01.10.2002, Side 7

Vol. 57 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
49
Editorial
by Gail Einarson-McCleery, O.F.
The resurgence of interest in the ties of
Icelandic-Canadians with Iceland has taken
on near phenomenal proportions in the
past few years. Before then, when observ-
ing the scene from Toronto, I could only
regard with envy the ever increasing num-
ber of Icelanders who ventured to the
Interlake area of Manitoba bringing with
them displays of artistic and intellectual tal-
ent. On a visit to Red Deer, Alberta in 1995
while attending the “Icelandic
Connections” conference, I was delighted
to see the participation of so many people
from Iceland, but felt it was a shame that
they had made such a long journey only to
be restricted to a “one off” twenty minute
presentation and to such a small audience.
My immediate thought was that people of
this caliber, with so much of Iceland to
communicate to all of us, should be able to
visit all over Canada and the U.S., and to do
so in an on-going manner.
From that thought, came the idea of
creating something permanent in the way
of cultural visits between Canada and
Iceland. The result was the formation of
the Icelandic National League’s
International Visits Program, now in its
(sixth) year. From the outset, the idea was
enhanced to create an exchange program; in
effect, offering Icelanders the opportunity
to know something of the artistic talents of
Icelandic-Canadians. I had been active in
the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto
for many years, and I knew of several peo-
ple within our own group who would be
very supportive of the idea. Local artist,
Tom Bjarnason was quick to respond and
he suggested that the first person to intro-
duce to Canadians was the Icelandic art
critic, Adalsteinn Ingolfsson. “Addie” was
a former curator of the National Gallery in
Iceland, and with the support of Garry
Oddleifson, president of the ICCT at that
time, the concept was presented to the INL
convention and accepted as a viable project.
In 1997, Addalsteinn gave a total of
sixteen lectures supported by slide shows
of Icelandic art to local clubs and universi-
ties across Canada. On the suggestion of
Tammy Axelsson, Executive Secretary of
the INL, Patricia Guttormson Peacock of
Vancouver, became the first in a series of
Canadian artists to visit Iceland under the
program and she was able to take her
Norse themed paintings to Hofsos the fol-
lowing year. Following that visit, Pall
Stefansson, Iceland Review’s international-
ly acclaimed photographer, came to
Canada to be followed by Frichir (Mafsdot-
tir, Iceland’s leading expert in the history
of the national costume. From this side of
the ocean, we have since sent as cultural
ambassadors, Einar Vigfusson, naturalistic
bird carver and the soprano Carole Davis
together with her accompanist Harold
Brown.
As each tour was planned, local clubs
across the country became more and more
involved. Artists, previously known only
to a narrow group of people, began making
themselves known and asked to be consid-
ered as exchange candidates. This has pro-
vided all of us with an added bonus—we
have all been able to learn more of the cre-
ative talent within our own communities as
well as those artists coming from Iceland.
Before long, our friends in the Icelandic
communities in Minneapolis and Seattle
became participants in the program.
As is so often the case with successful
programs, the “canvas” is now becoming
much larger. Coming this fall is the most
ambitious project to date with the impend-
ing visit of mezzo soprano Ingveldur Yr
Jonsdottir and pianist Gudrldur St.
Sigurdardottir. Inga and Gurry are artists
of international stature and their talents are
of such a kind that the Canada Council for
the Arts has generously provided assistance