International Visits Program

By founder of the program, Gail Einarson-McCleery with additions from Joan Eyolfson-Cadham

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 observing the scene from Toronto, I could only regard with envy the ever increasing number of Icelanders who ventured to the Interlake area of Manitoba bringing with them displays of artistic and intellectual talent. 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 sixteenth 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 people 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 introduce to Canadians was the Icelandic art critic, Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson. “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.

The International Visits Program of the Icelandic National League and the Icelandic National League of North America has been established to foster understanding and relationships between Icelanders and people of Icelandic descent living in North America.  Each year the Program sponsors a person from Iceland to visit North America or a person from North America to visit Iceland.  The Program selects people from North America with special qualifications or expertise as writers, scholars, scientists, genealogists, researchers or other areas of interest to audiences in Iceland .  Presentations are made in several locations in Iceland, usually about a dozen or so.

While an objective of the Program is to select persons of Icelandic descent, this does not exclude others whose expertise might be of interest to Icelandic audiences.

Return airfare, IcelandAir, North America/Iceland is provided.   While in Iceland transportation, some meals and accommodation are provided by Icelandic hosts.  You may be a welcome guest in a home or stay in a bed and breakfast, inn or hotel.

The International Visits Program invites expressions of interest from persons wishing to participate in the Program. 

Participants to Iceland

  • 1998 Patricia Peacock of Vancouver – her Norse themed art to Hofsós

  • 1999 Einar Vigfusson, naturalistic bird carver showed in Hofsós, Nordic Centre and University of Iceland

  • 2001 Carol Davis, soprano from Vancouver with accompanist Harold Brown, toured Reykjavík, Seyðisfjörður, Akureyri, Hofsós and Ísafjorður

  • 2002 Doug Rognvaldson, spinning wheel maker from Edmonton demonstrated his craft in Akureyri and Reykjavík

  • 2003 Ruth Christie, aboriginal storyteller and descendant of John Ramsey, spoke in schools and libraries

  • 2003 Martha Brooks from Winnipeg did double duty, reading from her stories for teenagers and singing with her trio in Akureyri and at the Jazz Festival in Reykjavik

  • 2007 Steve Benediktson, international energy expert and grandson of Stephan G.Stephansson, was the main speaker at the INL Iceland Convention, and also spoke at the University of Iceland,the University of Akureyri and at Hofsos Emigration Centre

  • 2007 Ingunn Benediktsson of Toronto and Calgary and her Quartetto Constanze toured,

  • 2009 Nelson Gerrard was approached to tour Iceland, but his time limitations got in the way

  • 2009 Christina Sunley introduced the Icelandic translation of her book ‘The Tricking of Freya, with readings in Reykjavik and Akureyri and Skriðuklausur

  • 2010 and 2011 Laurie Bertram presented excerpts from her Masters thesis on themes from the settlement era, such as ghosts, vinarterta, and costumes, in Reykjavik and Akureyri

  • 2012 Sunna Olafson Furstenau gave 12 presentations around Iceland called "The Love of Iceland in America," which included information and over 500 photos on the Icelandic people, places, and events in North America as well as how we are preserving our Icelandic heritage and culture. Sunna recapped the tour at the 2013 Seattle Convention with this presentation: https://youtu.be/muYzwe--tq4

  • 2017 Stefan Jonasson

  • 2019, Artists JoAnne Johannson Gullachsen, Inga Torfadottir, and Mabel Tinguely from Gimli held an art exhibit in Iceland

Participants from Iceland

  • 1997 Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson – Icelandic art – 16 lectures and slide shows.

  • 1999 Páll Stefánsson, Iceland Review´s internationally acclaimed photographer

  • 2001 Fríður Ólafsdóttir, leading expert in the national costume, led workshops

  • 2002 Inga and Gurry… Ingveldur Ýr Jónsdóttir, soprano and Guðriður St. Sigurðardóttir,pianist – 10 concerts and 6 workshops in schools

  • 2007 Víkingur Ólafsson, pianist, and Karen Ouzounian, cellist, presented ten concerts, and then Víkingur went on to do two solo shows in Ottawa, all to rave reviews

  • 2007 Bjárki Sveinbjornsson, musicologist, toured the west to talk about early Icelandic North American composers and collect yet more information on them.

  • 2008 Ýrsa Sigurðardóttir, writer of mystery novels and geothermal engineer, visited 13 towns and cities to read from her books and talk about her vocation: the energy sector

  • 2010 Kristinn Guðjónsson toured 11 cities with his beautiful pictures of Eyjafjallajökull and explanations of the geology of the volcanic structure of Iceland

  • 2011 Mats Wibe Lund brought us his interesting photos of our ancestral farms, each of the 11 locations was presented with a show which included farms from which people in their club had emigrated

  • October 2015, Dr. Grímur Valdimarsson was the international visitor and he toured INLNA clubs to speak about the state of the world’s fisheries and Iceland’s fishing practices

  • 2018, Almar Grímsson visited as the past Chairman of the Snorri Foundation

  • 2019, Cathy Josephson visited from the East Iceland Emigration Center presenting “Sails, Rails, Rivers, and Trails” at the 100th Annual INLNA Convention