Welcome to the Museums Council website

The Museum Council oversees museum activities in Iceland, works on policy for museum work, discusses museum charters and accreditations, and provides opinions on grant applications to the museum fund.
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About the Museum Council

The main role of the Museum Council is to supervise museum activities in the country, work on policy for museum work, discuss museum charters and accreditations, and provide opinions on grant applications to the museum fund.

Museum Fund

The role of the Museum Fund is to strengthen the activities of museums that fall under the Museums Act. To that end, the Fund may support the operations and define the projects of recognized museums and collaborative projects between such museums.

Accredited museums

The Museum Council sets conditions regarding housing, security, accessibility, registration systems and professional work that museums must meet in order to receive recognition from the Museum Council.

News and announcements

Alþjóðlegi safnadagurinn 2025

Í tilefni Alþjóðlega safnadagsins 2025 fer fram málþing miðvikudaginn 21. maí í fyrirlestrasal Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.  Í heimi sem er á sífelldri hreyfingu og átök verða sífellt meira áberandi býður þema safnadagsins í ár, Framtíð safna í síbreytilegum samfélögum, okkur að huga að hlutverki og umhverfi safna í þessu tilliti. Íslandsdeild ICOM, FÍSOS og Safnaráð bjóða …

Cultural resources of tourism

The Creative Industries Research Centre (CIR) is hosting the conference Cultural Resources in Tourism, a conference on cultural tourism and a new tourism strategy until 2030 on May 14 in Hof, Akureyri. The conference is being held in collaboration with the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre (RMF) and the project received funding from Hvati, a fund of the Ministry of Culture and Trade. The conference will also be attended by a number of parties from the cultural sector and the tourism industry. The aim of the conference …

New museum board appointed

The Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education has appointed a new Museum Council, whose term of office is 1 February 2025 – 31 January 2029. The Council consists of: General representatives Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, chairman, appointed without nomination Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir vice chairman, appointed without nomination Guðrún Dröfn Whitehead, nominated by the Icelandic Section of ICOM, the International Council of Museums Hlynur Hallsson, nominated by the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors Jóhanna Erli …

Response plans of recognized museums

Prevention and response plans play a key role in securing our cultural heritage for the future, and it is therefore important that every museum has a response plan that outlines how to respond to an impending disaster in order to avert shocks. All cultural institutions should prepare response plans for emergencies. This includes recognized museums in Iceland, which should …

Main allocation of the museum fund 2025

The Minister of Culture has allocated funds from the main allocation of the Museum Fund 2025 The Museum Council's allocation ceremony took place in the Picture Hall of the National Museum of Iceland on Friday, February 14, at a ceremonial ceremony attended by distinguished guests. Minister of Culture Logi Einarsson addressed the guests and allocated 129 grants, a total of 217,159,500 krónur from the Museum Fund. There were 114 one-year grants totaling 163,259,500 krónur to 47 beneficiaries. Excellence Grants 2025 – …

Museum Council's award invitation to the National Museum

The Museum Council's award ceremony will be held in the Picture Gallery of the National Museum of Iceland on Friday, February 14th, from 4-5 p.m. Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, will award grants from the main allocation of the museum fund at a ceremonial ceremony. The award ceremony is a direct continuation of the annual meeting of the National Museums and the Museum Council, which begins earlier, at 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the National Museum of Iceland. At the Museum Council meeting last December, the council approved a proposal for a main allocation from the museum fund for 2025 …

Additional allocation from the museum fund 2024

Minister of Culture Logi Einarsson has now allocated 23,660,000 kr. from the additional allocation of the Museum Fund 2024. From the additional allocation of 2024, 74 grants were allocated to 38 recognized museums, 53 grants are for continuing education projects and courses and 21 grants for digital promotion. The Minister allocates from the Museum Fund after receiving the opinion of the Museum Council. List of grants from the additional allocation of the Museum Fund 2024 Allocation from the Museum Fund …

Conferences and seminars on museum issues

Last November, both a conference and a symposium were held at the Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús. Both events discussed important issues in museum work, and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director of the Museums Council, gave a talk on behalf of the Museums Council, along with a number of other interesting speakers. You can listen to recordings of the events and find links and the program here …

Museum Council visits museums in West Iceland

The annual museum council trip took place in November and four museums were visited in West Iceland. They were the Görðar Museum in Akranes, the Borgarfjörður Museum, the Norwegian House – the Snæfellsnes and Hnappdæla Museum and the Icelandic Agricultural Museum. In addition to the council members, the directors of the three main museums who attend the museum council meetings due to their position, as well as the museum council office staff who were also with them. …