Minutes of the 34th meeting of the Museum Council, 25 November 2004, 15:00-16:10,
The Árnesingi Regional Museum, Hafnarbrú 3, 820 Eyrarbakki
Present were: Ólafur Kvaran, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Jón Gunnar Ottósson, Gísli Sverrir Árnason, Sigrún Ásta Jónsdóttir, Karla Kristjánsdóttir, Jónína A. Sander and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. Minutes of the 33rd and 31st meetings signed.
2. Report of the Managing Director. The Managing Director reported on the Travel School of the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors held at the National Museum of Iceland from 10 to 12 November and the symposium of the Museum Council and FÍSOS on museum law, which was part of the travel school. Annual report of the Museum Council – expected to be printed on 25 November. Processing of applications is underway. A letter is being prepared to remind about the obligation to submit reports on the use of grants during the grant year or applications for extension of the grant (according to the Museum Fund's allocation rules, grants are awarded for one year at a time).
It was stated at an administrative law course that the Director General completed on 11 November that legal authority is needed as a basis for charging admission fees to state museums, but such a fee can be classified as a service fee for a public service. It was agreed to follow up on the content of the Museums Council's letter to the Minister of Culture dated 16 November, in which the Council proposed that the Ministry establish a working group to review the Government's resolution on admission fees to state museums.
3. Results of the Museums Council's survey of collectors' attitudes towards methods of allocation from the Museum Fund.
The Minister of Culture presented the results of a survey. Applicants to the 2005 Museum Fund were given the opportunity to respond to this survey. Of the 78 applicants, 34 responded. In short, the results are as follows: Most, 52%, believe it is important that the main emphasis is on operating grants, with project grants making up the surplus. A majority, 60%, believes that flat operating grants should be allocated as has been the case in recent years. A majority, 64%, is in favor of museums being classified into two categories according to their capacity for basic operations and allocated accordingly. The results will be taken into account when allocating funds from the 2005 Museum Fund.
4. FÍSOS mobile school.
Following discussions between the Icelandic Museum Council and the Icelandic Museum Council on the issue, the need for the Museum Council to support the mobile school of the Icelandic Museums and Museums Association was discussed. It was pointed out, in connection with the Museum Council's consultative and advisory role, that this is the only forum in this country for holding conferences in the field of effective education in connection with the important internal and external work of museums and for bringing together museum workers from all areas of museum work. There was some discussion on the issue, but it was decided to take up the issue at the next meeting.
5. Museum Council's symposium on museum policy and cultural policy, autumn 2005.
The goals and main themes of the symposium were discussed. It was agreed that the symposium should be limited to policy issues in museum affairs (instead of cultural policy) and that the societal role of museums would be discussed. It was decided that the Director General and the Chairman would draft political policy objectives that the symposium was intended to highlight. It was decided to take up the matter at the first meeting of 2005.
6. Nun's House – application for a deadline for the use of a grant for the year 2004.
It was agreed to grant Nonnahús a grace period for the year 2004 to utilize the grant. It was decided that the Managing Director would handle applications of this type in the future, unless he considered there to be a special reason to submit such an application to the Council due to its scope or nature.
7. Translation of Acts No. 105/2001 and 106/2001.
It was agreed to request an English translation of both laws from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Icelandic Museums Council free of charge.
8. Next meeting and other matters.
It was decided to meet next on December 13th at 11:30, when the meeting schedule for 2005 will be available.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 16:10/RH
Appendix: Report on the Museum Council's field trip on November 25, 2004 to Árnessýsla.
________________________________________________________________________
Museum Council field trip in November 2004 to western South Iceland.
The Museum Council set off from the premises of the National Museum at Vesturvör 16-20 in Kópavogur on its second field trip on November 25, 2004 at 9 am, with the destination being South Iceland: Hveragerði, Stokkseyri, Eyrarbakki and the surrounding area.
The goal of the trip was for the Museum Council to learn about the conditions at museums/centers in Árnessýsla, the leaders of these institutions, and their vision for the future.
Along with them were:
Council members: Ólafur Kvaran (chairman), Gísli Sverrir Árnason (vice-chairman), Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Jón Gunnar Ottóson.
Substitutes: Sigrún Ásta Jónsdóttir, Karla Kristjánsdóttir, Jónína A. Sander.
Rakel Halldórsdóttir, Managing Director.
It was first applied to Árnesingi Art Museum where Birna Kristjánsdóttir, the museum's director, welcomed us. We viewed the exhibitions and facilities and talked to Birna.
The next stop was Fishing Museum in Stokkseyri where Páll Reynisson, director of the museum and board member, and his wife Fríða Magnúsdóttir, board member, welcomed us. We inspected the premises and conditions and discussed with Páll and Fríða the role and future of Veiður.
We next met Lýð Pálsson, director of the Árnesingar Historical Museum, at Thúríðarbúð, a renovated fishing shop in Stokkseyri. Lýður then followed us to The creamery at Baugsstaðir where we met the estate's caretaker, Sigurður Pálsson, and the board members of the estate's preservation society; Pál Lýðsson and Helga Ívarsson.
Lunch was served at Við fjörðurðið in Stokkseyri and the Museum Council invited Lýður to have lunch with the council.
After lunch we met Björn Ingi Bjarnason, owner of Hólmarastar, an art and cultural center at Hafnargata 9 in Stokkseyri, where a large cultural center is being built, with facilities for various types of artists, a concert and lecture hall, etc. We looked around The haunted mansion which is in this building and we met there with Benedikt Guðmundsson, the director of the center, and Þór Vigfússon.
Björn Ingi then showed us Icelandic Music Museum, but its director, Skúlína Kjartansdóttir, was ill.
Next we headed to the service building. The Árnesingar Regional Museum at Eyrarbakki where Lýður Pálsson welcomed us back.
Lýður showed us the service building and explained the situation, after which the Museum Council met.
After the meeting, the "House", the exhibition building of the Árnesinga Regional Museum, was visited, as well as the Egg Shed.
Since it was rather late, it was decided to store the Maritime Museum in Eyrarbakki until later.
We arrived in Reykjavík around 6 pm.
Rakel Halldorsdottir,
Ms. Chairman of the Museum Council.