The Minister of Culture has allocated from the main allocation of the Museum Fund for 2026.
The National Gallery's awards ceremony was held in the Picture Gallery of the National Museum of Iceland at a festive event attended by distinguished guests on Thursday, April 16. Arna Kristín Einarsdóttir, Director of the Office of Culture and Creative Industries at the Ministry of Culture, Innovation, and Higher Education, addressed the guests and awarded 131 grants, totaling 182,700,000 krónur from the museum fund to 51 recipients.
One-year scholarships were 123 in total 154,700,000 kr. to 51 recipients.
Fellowships 2026-2028 There were eight accredited museums, which are as follows: 28,000,000 kr. for the year 2026, 29,000,000 kr. for the year 2027 and 16,000,000 kr. for the year 2028. The total amount for the 2026 Flagship Grants for all grant years 2026–2028 is then 73,000,000 kr. Assignments for the years 2027 and 2028 are granted subject to the fund's funding. Previous Excellence Awards The allocations for 2026 were 10 in total, and the grant amount is 41,900,000 kr.
In the main allocation of the museum fund for 2026, a total of 169 applications were received: 156 one-year applications with a total amount of 335,139,615 kr. and 11 Flagship applications. The application amount for the 2026 year for the Core Grants was 50,250,630 kr., and for the entire grant period of 2026–2028, the total application amount was 127,071,480 kr. The results were announced to the grant recipients on January 24, and a more detailed breakdown can be found at to them here. In accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 22 of the Museums Act, the Minister of Culture awards grants from the Museum Fund upon the recommendation of the Museum Council.
Total grants
The one-year grants from the Collections Fund for 2026 and the Öndvegis Grants for 2026–2028 for 2026 are 182,700,000 kr.
Have already been allocated 41,900,000 kr. for the year 2026 for Excellence Grants of previous years, 2024 – 2026 and 2025 – 2027.
The total funding amount for the 2026 main allocation, including pledged Centennial Grants from previous years, is therefore 224,600,000 kr.
The allocation meeting of the Council of Museums was held following the annual meeting of the three national museums: the National Gallery of Iceland, the National Museum of Natural History of Iceland, and the National Museum of Iceland. The theme of the meeting was "Museums and Artificial Intelligence" and it took place in the lecture hall of the National Museum on Thursday, April 16, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
A more detailed breakdown of grant recipients can be seen here. here.
Photos: Sunday & White Studio 
