According to Article 7 of the Museums Act No. 141/2011 The Museum Council shall convene a consultation meeting at least annually with the Minister of Culture and representatives of the main museums, together with the professional associations involved in the work of the museums operating under the Museums Act. The first consultation meeting between the Minister of Culture and Business and the professional associations of museum work was held on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at the Museum Council's premises at Austurstræti 5, while the Museum Council draws up rules on the arrangement of the consultation meeting, participants and agenda, which the Minister confirms.
The agenda of a consultation meeting can be dedicated to a predetermined topic and participants have the opportunity to submit questions or issues for discussion. This first meeting was not dedicated to a predetermined topic but was open to general discussion, in addition to which the rules for the consultation meeting were introduced. The meeting was well attended and various issues concerning museum work in the country were discussed.
Professional associations and institutions that received invitations to the meeting were: the National Museum of Iceland, the Art Museum of Iceland, the Natural History Museum of Iceland, the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Professionals (FÍSOS), the Icelandic Section of ICOM, the Society of Archaeologists, the Icelandic History Society, the Icelandic Ethnological Society, the Icelandic Association of Naturalists, the Icelandic Art Society, the Icelandic Association of Museum Professionals, NKF-Ísland – The Association of Nordic Conservationists in Iceland, the Study Program in Museum Studies at the University of Iceland and the Icelandic Association of Visual Artists – SÍM.
Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, Minister of Culture, announced her absence, but was represented by Sigrún Brynja Einarsdóttir, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture and Trade, and Arna Kristín Einarsdóttir, Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs. The meeting was chaired by Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director of the Museum Council, and Klara Þórhallsdóttir, a specialist in the Museum Council's office, who wrote the minutes. The Museum Council was represented by Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chairman of the Museum Council, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir and Hlynur Hallsson, who sit on the Museum Council.
You can read the minutes here.
