Minutes of the 40th meeting of the Museum Council, March 31, 2005, 11:30-13:15,
National Gallery of Iceland, Laufásvegur 12, 101 Reykjavík
Present were: Ólafur Kvaran, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Sigrún Ásta Jónsdóttir, Gísli Sverrir Árnason, Álfheiður Ingadóttir and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. Comments were made to the minutes of the 38th and 39th meetings. The minutes will be signed at the next meeting.
2. Report of the Director. A response has been received from the Ministry of Education and Culture regarding the Museum Council's report on the progress of the preparation of proposals for the preservation of old ships and boats. The Ministry's response refers to the Minister of Education and Culture's response to a similar question in the Althingi. The Minister will review the discussions on the question and the matter will be discussed at the next meeting. The response of collectors following the allocation from the Museum Fund in 2005 was discussed. The response has been quite strong and there has been some dissatisfaction. The Museum Council agreed that what came formally from the Council would be published either on the Council's website or in letters to the parties involved. The Minister presented a report written to further clarify the role of the Museum Fund and the 2005 allocation. It was agreed that the council members would send the Minister comments on the report and that it would be published on the Museum Council's website. The scope of document processing is constantly increasing at the Museum Council, and it was agreed that the Board of Directors would examine the possibility of the Museum Council's office being connected to the National Gallery of Iceland's document processing system with special access.
3. Submissions regarding the 2005 allocation. The Museum Council has received nine formal submissions following the 2005 allocation, consisting of six requests for justification, one request for reopening of the case, one request for access to data, and a letter with questions to the Council regarding the allocation. The Council approved responses to the submissions, which will be sent to the parties to the case.
4. Regulation on Articles 4 and 7 of the Museums Act and amendments to the Museums Act. The matter was postponed until the next meeting.
5. The Icelandic Museum Council's 2005 symposium on the educational role of museums. The overall concept for the symposium is being worked on.
6. Presentation from the Icelandic Museums and Collectors Association and the Icelandic Section of ICOM regarding collaboration on the Icelandic Museum Award. It was agreed that the Museum Council would not participate in the preparation or implementation of the award, but it was considered important that the Council nevertheless be involved in the matter in such a way that the Chairman of the Board of Directors attends meetings of the Icelandic Museum Award as an observer.
7. Next meeting and other matters.
Other matters: A presentation by the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors and the Herring Museum in Siglufjörður was discussed regarding the 2005 Museums and Collectors' School. It was agreed to provide a project grant of 300 thousand ISK to the Herring Museum in Siglufjörður for the preparation and implementation of the School this year. SÁJ withdrew from the meeting while the matter was being discussed.
The next scheduled meeting of the Museum Council is April 28th.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:15 PM/RH.