Marvi Gil: Culture is the key to inclusion – but only if everyone is invited

In her home country, Iceland, Marvi Gil sometimes jokes that she is an Asian cliché – a lover of good food and the proud owner of a karaoke machine with ten microphones. But, like all immigrants, she is much more than a stereotype. She is also a counsellor, nurse, journalist, academic and poet.  

Nobody asks me what my favourite books or movies are, or about my poems that have been published here. The assumption is that I have no interests beyond food and karaoke. 

To be fully included in society, an immigrant must be recognised as the complete person she is, and according to Marvi Gil, a central pillar of integration is cultural participation. 

– When it comes to culture, I believe all immigrants should be given space. The visibility of different cultures in Iceland is quite limited. Providing spaces for others to showcase themselves helps normalise diversity and foster inclusion and acceptance. 

As a member of the Nordic Migrant Expert Forum, Gil highlights the invisible barriers that keep many migrants on the margins of cultural life. Some are practical, such as financial constraints or a lack of representation, while others are subtler: unspoken norms that decide who is invited in, and who remains unseen. 

”One of the organisers thanked me with tears in her eyes”

 According to Marvi Gil, even stereotypes influence who is recognised and who is overlooked in public life. She explains how cultural institutions in Iceland often emphasise the most familiar Asian cultures, while leaving others out. Gil remembers Asian culture festivals at the University of Iceland, only focusing on Japanese and Chinese culture, overlooking, among others, her own Filipino heritage.

– I once asked the organiser of the Reykjavik Art Festival why no Filipino culture was showcased there, which led to the organisers giving us a slot at the main stage.  

It was a huge success. It showcased the quite large, but unseeded Filipino culture in Iceland. 

– The organisers had no idea that so many Filipino dancers, singers and musicians were already living here. Afterwards, one of the organisers thanked me with tears in her eyes. 

Small gestures from society would make a big impact

Marvi Gil states that her experience with the Reykjavik Arts Festival demonstrated the importance of inviting every immigrant group, not just the most well-known. She has also undertaken other cultural initiatives to address the gaps left by institutions. Along with friends, she once organised Iceland’s first Filipino film festival.

– But we had to pay the expenses ourselves. Sometimes I think the authorities believe we are not cool enough, like the Koreans, Japanese, or Chinese.   

She hopes that public institutions such as the Reykjavík City Library or the National Museum could allocate certain days each year for all different immigrant groups to meet or hold cultural events. 

– At this point, we are not asking for money, only for a place to gather. This would help us feel more included. When cultural spaces are closed, the message is clear that they are not for you. But when young people see their stories, sounds, and ideas reflected in public life, they gain more than visibility. They gain dignity, confidence, and a deeper sense of belonging. 

Multicultural health is still in its infancy

Before settling in Iceland, Marvi Gil trained as a nurse in her native Philippines. While studying at nursing college, she began writing for one of the country’s major newspapers. She still occasionally works in journalism and writes poetry.

After settling in Iceland, Gil began working in psychiatric intensive care. After working in psychiatry for many years, she temporarily moved to the Netherlands to study global mental health. Today, her specialisation is migrant mental health, a field she says is in its infancy in Iceland.

– Migrant mental health is closest to my heart these days. Still, it is not part of the curriculum in the College of Medicine in Iceland. Only now, because I am teaching it, has it been included at one university in the north of Iceland for the College of Nursing.

When migrant mental health is neglected in psychiatric care, practitioners give no consideration to whether the trauma a person experiences might be related to some aspect of their culture. 

– There should be a multicultural checklist. Even one simple question could make a difference: Do your beliefs and practices affect your treatment? Questions like these are just not asked. 

Gil also highlights administrative barriers such as difficulties transferring health records from abroad, which can lead to misunderstandings and stigma, with some patients even being labelled “doctor shopping”. She recalls a case in which, after a series of missteps and reprimands, a patient left the clinic feeling that seeking help again might not be worth the risk. 

– He said, next time I’ll just kill myself because I can’t go through that again. 

Shared flavours, shared belonging

For Gil, the question of belonging extends beyond institutions. In her own apartment in central Reykjavík, she began opening the door, quite literally, to others. 

– People would knock on my door to cook, eat, or simply talk about their lives. This is how the project Eldhús, meaning “kitchen” in Icelandic, came to be. My aim is to promote the kitchen as a therapeutic space, like a symbolic campfire. 

Eldhús is Gil’s peer-led mental-health project: a monthly gathering where participants meet around shared meals and discussion. What started as spontaneous visits grew into a structured initiative, later developed through a fellowship with Yale University. Each month focuses on a different theme – from navigating Iceland’s mental-health system to dealing with loneliness as an immigrant.  

 ”Treat me like you would any Western immigrant”

Marvi Gils’ kitchen also stands for something larger: shared cultural ground. 

– Icelanders have a very similar flavour profile to Filipinos. In terms of family, the matriarch is very important in Icelandic culture, as in Asian cultures. 

Marvi Gil is often asked how she wants to be treated as an immigrant. 

– I always say: treat me like you would any Western immigrant. Yes, I am an Asian cliché who enjoys food and karaoke – but I also love science fiction and fantasy books and films, and I follow Icelandic politics and current affairs. Don’t assume otherwise. Just treat me the same. 

Read the recommendations from The Nordic Migrant Expert Forum.

Text: Sebastian Dahlström
Photo: Martin Thaulow