A group of artists have issued a joint statement regarding the Artists’ Salary, raising questions regarding what demographics were–and were not–awarded funding last December.
The demographics
The fund itself is determined each year by Parliament, and then managed by the Icelandic Centre for Research on behalf of The Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs. Each year, well over a thousand visual artists, writers, musicians, performance artists and others in the creative field apply for funding, all of them hailing from different backgrounds of education, national origin, and age groups.
In a statement to the press, Sadie Cook, visual artist and co-founder of Gallery Kannski; Jo Pawlowska, visual artist and co-founder of the Hamraborg Festival; and Megan Auður, visual artist and co-initiator of AIVAG, Artists in Iceland Visa Action Group, pointed out demographic trends regarding who was awarded the Artists’ Salary last month.
Representation
“As much as we celebrate this achievement of our friends and colleagues, we also find it just as crucial to examine troubling trends in the overall demographics of this year’s recipients,” the statement reads in part. “While every awarded artist is truly deserving, the overall selection as a group does not reflect the rich and varied spectrum of people and practices within Iceland’s art scene.”
Based on data they were able to collect themselves, of the 60 artists who were awarded, the average age was 52; no artists under 30 and only four artists under 35 and seven artists over 68 received funding. Only seven artists not affiliated with the University of Arts in Iceland, whether through attending or teaching there, received funding.
In addition, only seven artists of foreign origin were granted funding, with only one from outside of Western Europe. Only two people of colour received funding as well.
Disparities
As the statement points out, immigrants comprise roughly 20% of Iceland’s population; of those, 45.4%–or 8% of Iceland’s total population–are from Poland, Lithuania or the Philippines, “yet none of these groups are represented among the awardees,” the statement continues. “Given that these populations face significant discrimination within this country, their absence from this prestigious list is deeply concerning.”
Regarding the high percentage of awardees being affiliated with the University of Arts in Iceland, the statement points out that while the school “is a cornerstone of Iceland’s arts community”, there are plenty of artists who received their education elsewhere in Iceland or abroad, either due to choice, national origin, or because they could not afford to attend the university when it was still charging tuition. “Such a pattern reinforces systemic barriers, limiting opportunities for artists from diverse educational and geographic backgrounds,” they contend.
“Equally concerning is the absence of young artists,” the statement continues. “More than half of the awarded artists are older than 50, while only 6% are younger than 35. In the coming year, not a single artist under 30 will receive an artist salary to create their museum shows, begin projects, or to address the issues concerning their generation.”
Room for improvement
The statement concludes by acknowledging that rejection is a fact of an artist’s life, and that the selection process is no doubt challenging. “However, when it comes to the selection processes that are part of public funding systems, it is vital that the mechanisms through which artists are selected are transparent, equitable, and able to recognize the worth of artists of a variety of practices, ages, educational levels, and backgrounds,” they state.
They strongly encourage the fund to “reflect the values and goals of the public, not of a select few”, underlining that “[e]quity is not just about fairness—it is a foundation for a thriving, relevant, and representative arts community. A wider range of voices and practices will help the art scene stay relevant, responsive to the diversity of society, and more accessible to broader audiences. Art belongs to everyone.”
The full statement can be read here.
