December 15, 2015 at: 12-14
in a meeting room on the 6th floor of the National Museum of Iceland
Present: Ólafur Kvaran, Chairman, Haraldur Þór Egilsson, Guðbrandur Benediktsson, Anna Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Hilmar J. Malmquist and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Managing Director. Absent: Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir.
Approval and signing of the minutes of the 145th meeting of the Museum Council
Presentation case
- Summary of activities since the last meeting
- Appointment of a new Director of the Museums Council, Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir
- The status of the museum fund was presented to the museum board.
- Project grants from 13 applicants to the museum fund in 2015 are unclaimed, they will be encouraged to apply for the grant before the end of the year
- The status of applications for the 2016 Museum Fund was announced; a total of almost 40 operating grant applications and over 150 project grant applications have been received.
- The decision of the Ministry of Education and Culture on the recognition of the Akureyri Art Museum presented to the council
- The decision of the Ministry of Education and Culture to refuse recognition to Breiðdalssetur was presented to the council.
- Annual report of museums; status of projects presented to the council
- Supervisory role of the Museum Council; it was presented to the Council that there was a need to postpone the processing of the project until 2016
Matter for decision
1. The Council discussed the amount of operating grants in 2016. Guðbrandur Benediktsson and Haraldur Þór Egilsson declared their disqualification from this decision and left the meeting while the proposal was being discussed. It was proposed that the amount of operating grants for 2016 be 800,000 ISK. The proposal was approved.
2. Request for postponement of the use of the grant from Heiðar Kári Rannversson approved
3. Request for postponement of the use of a grant from Sarpi approved
4. Request for postponement of the use of a grant from the Whale Museum in Húsavík approved
5. A report on museums and tourism prepared by the Centre for Research in Museum Studies was received and will be published on the Museum Council's website in the near future. Following the report, a symposium is planned for spring 2016.
6. From the Sarps Management Company: Request for access to information on the annual number of works of the museums, which is used as a basic decision in determining the fee schedule for the Sarps database. The Museum Council will request the opinion of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture on Sarps' request.
Other matters: No further discussion and meeting adjourned 14:10/ÞBÓ