Minutes of the 82nd meeting of the Museum Council
June 15, 2009, 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM, Setberg, National Museum of Iceland
Present: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, chairman, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Helgi Torfason, AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. The minutes of the 80th and 81st meetings were approved and signed.
2. Director's report. Distribution center for the import and export of cultural property. The distribution label is in progress, a designer is working on the label design. Requested information regarding grants 2009 from the museum fund have been received from most, or 12 out of 14, museums that were asked to submit additional information before the operating grant could be processed. Grants for the Continuing Education Course for Museum Professionals 2009Several museums have requested funding for the Continuing Education Course for Museum Workers 2009, but funding for the course will be paid to museums upon application according to the decision of the Museum Council at its 77th meeting on February 12, 2009. Conference on Museology on May 23, 2009. Conference on Museology, which was held by the Department of Museum Studies at the University of Iceland, was a success. MH (chair), ADK, HT and Ms. Sgt. gave presentations at the conference. Copyright issues of collections. The poor state of copyright issues in the field of museum work was discussed, as copyright legislation places considerable obstacles to the use of museum material for educational purposes. It is likely that the Museum Council will be allowed to nominate its representative to the Copyright Council of the Ministry of Education. Matters of the Regional Museum at Göður, Akranes – waiting listThe Mayor of Akranes has announced that the planned outsourcing of the Akranes Historical Museum to a private company has been put on hold. Preservation and security of museum objects at the national level – a consultation projectIn accordance with the decision of the Museum Council, the Minister of Culture has convened a working group that will oversee a consultation project on an assessment and policy regarding preservation buildings and museum facilities for preservation. Coordinated museum visitor survey – a consultation projectIn accordance with the decision of the Museum Council, the Minister of Culture has appointed a working group that will manage a consultation project on a coordinated museum visitor survey in Icelandic museums. Icelandic Museum Day 2009The Museum Council is organizing the promotion of Icelandic Museum Day as in previous years. This year, the day falls on Sunday, July 12. The promotion will be similar to previous years, with an open advertisement in Morgunblaðið and press releases on the radio. Coventry church glass in Áskirkja, Reykjavík and Akureyri Church. In continuation of the suggestion to the National Monuments Authority, it was agreed to seek opinions on the import of the church glass. Discussions on the cultural landscape and the immediate surroundings of the Sigurjón Ólafsson Art Museum, Laugarnestangi. At an interdisciplinary meeting convened by the LSÓ Board of Representatives and held at the museum on June 15, 2009, representatives of nature and heritage conservation, representatives of museum affairs (including the chairman and vice-chairman of the Museum Board), representatives of the City of Reykjavík and representatives of the state came together. The meeting discussed damage that has been done to the cultural landscape and the immediate surroundings of the Sigurjón Ólafsson Art Museum by the owner of property no. 65 in Laugarnestangi. The Museum Board approved a resolution on the matter (see attached).
3. Development of grants from the Museum Fund – Museum Fund allocation rules revised. It was agreed to include procedures for the use of grants in the allocation rules. Submissions for monitoring the use of grants will be in electronic form. A bid for this will be sought from EC-software. The revised allocation rules will be reviewed at the next meeting. A draft advertisement for grants from the museum fund 2010 was approved.
4. Administrative audit of state budget allocations to non-state-owned museums and artefacts. Following the request of the Museum Council for an examination by the National Audit Office of the budget allocations for museum affairs in the budget (cf. minutes of the 73rd Museum Council meeting, 1 September 2008), the National Audit Office has begun an administrative audit of the state's budget allocations to institutions engaged in museum work, which are not owned by the state. The Minister of Finance and the Chairman have met with representatives of the National Audit Office at meetings and provided detailed information on the matter. The Museum Council welcomes this milestone and considers it an important step towards professional criteria being increasingly applied in decisions on state budget allocations for museum affairs. The Council has considered that too large a share of funds for museum affairs is being allocated bypassing the Museum Council/Museum Fund, without emphasis on professional discussion, prioritization and monitoring. The Museum Council discussed the content of the report and the subsequent discussion by collectors and the media. Draft procedures for the Museum Council were approved for monitoring the use of grants from the museum fund and that the rules would become part of the Museum Council's allocation rules.
5. Electronic application form for museum fund applications. An offer from EC-Software for an electronic application form for applications to the museum fund with the possibility of a statistical evaluation of applications was reviewed. The offer was accepted.
6. Altarpiece of Möðruvallar Church in the Eyjafjörður region. The history of the case was reviewed since the meeting of the Museum Council on May 13th, at which the Museum Council agreed to temporarily stop the export of the altarpiece with reference to Article 4 of Act No. 105/2001 and to request the Ministry of Education's position on the matter. A copy of the list of signatures of the parishioners of the Mother Church protesting the planned sale of the church's altarpiece was submitted.
7. Request for the Museum Council's participation and financial contribution to the ICOM-CECA conference in Iceland in October 2009The report was approved.
8. Working group on cultural policy in civil engineering – suggestions for prioritization sought. The Museum Council received a request from the Ministry of Education and Culture requesting proposals for prioritizing projects defined in the cultural policy in civil engineering. The Museum Council requested comments from the National Museum of Iceland and the National Gallery of Iceland. The Museum Council's proposal, based on the comments, was approved.
9. Next meeting and other matters. The next meeting is scheduled according to the 2009 meeting schedule, Thursday, August 27th. It was agreed to postpone the field trip until September.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 17:30/RH