Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford

school type to which the comment refers. If a comment does not specify the type of
organisation or school, it can be assumed this refers as a general point to all situations or
generally within the field of education and/or culture in Iceland.
1.3 Arts education
‣ There is a mismatch between the broad definitions of the arts generally within
Icelandic society and the comparatively narrow definitions of the arts within education
‣ A future study could examine specifically the interface between formal provisions and
the ‘broader’ community provisions
‣ There is a lack of distinction made between arts education, creative education and
cultural education
‣ More emphasis need to be given for integrating creative learning across all curriculum
areas
It appears that there is a good balance between traditional and contemporary practice in
arts education in Iceland. For example in visual arts, pupils might be studying knitting and
traditional design while at the same time doing film making or working with digital technologies.
While music is more likely to concentrate on more traditional forms, some music schools and
music education in schools feature contemporary and world music alongside more traditional
offerings. Film making seems to be particularly popular especially with young adults.
The Nordic countries Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland have a distinct
tradition of art and craft education 2 . This includes visual arts (formerly known as drawing) and
two craft subjects; textiles and wood and metalwork. In Nordic countries, culture is seen as the
pillar of society.
In response to the question, “What is considered to be included in arts and cultural
education in Iceland?” the following aspects were generally reported: Music, theatre, dance,
films, design, fine arts, literature/poetry, photography, computer programming, textile art,
ceramics, jewellery and industrial design. Creativity was not specifically mentioned. It was
generally considered that the curriculum in crafts, visual arts and music are very strong, but that
dance and drama are not given the same priority, as the following comments suggest:
We need to bring more dancing into schools. We do it once a year as part of our celebration and the pupils really
enjoy it. We should do it much more. We do a big play every second year. Everyone joins in.
We need more drama and dance. We need broader definitions of the arts.
It was suggested by a focus group of arts and cultural professionals that the official
definitions of the arts as they stand in curriculum are “reductionist” and that practice in the arts
in Iceland is more dynamic and comprehensive than policy would suggest. It was noted that this
dynamic definition of arts is “an important characteristic of the arts” and that it is impossible to
“give static definitions because as soon as these definitions are written they are outdated”. This
comment points to the fluid nature of contemporary arts practice and the need for policy to
remain conscious of the ever changing nature of professional arts practice.
In most countries there is a general congruence between what is viewed as arts within the
general community and what is included within the curriculum. The benefit of this is that it
enables a diversity of forms of context-specific expression to be developed within school. For
2 Published 2001 in Visioner om slöjd och slöjdpedagogik, Techne Serien B:10/2001, pp. 140-149. Vasa: NordFo
Nordisk Forum för Forskning och utvicklingsarbete inom utbildning i slöjd. Dr. Gudrun Helgadóttir Art, sloyd and the
good life. Based on a presentation at the annual conference of the National Art Education Association, Chigago, Ill.
April 1993.
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