The museum magazine Kvistur is out! The 12th issue of the museum magazine Kvistur has now been published. The magazine features a variety of articles about the professional work of museums in Iceland. A key feature of this year's issue is a reflection on the role of museums in a democratic society at a time when globalization, polarization, and war are rampant in Europe and beyond. Also…

During the Museum Council's annual museum visit, several museums in the capital region were visited. They were the Icelandic Film Archive, Hafnarborg, the Cultural and Arts Center of Hafnarfjörður, the Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History of Iceland. The Museum Council, along with the directors of the three national museums and staff from the council's office, spent a day visiting the museums last September. The Film Archive of Iceland In Hafnarfjörður, Thóra Ingólfsdóttir, director of the Film Archive of Iceland, welcomed the group and …

The submission of the Annual Report of Accredited Museums 2025 has been opened and the deadline is October 15th. The annual report of accredited museums to the Museum Council is part of the Museum Council's supervision of the operation of a museum. Information from these reports is published, among other things, in the Museum Council's Annual Reports, in addition to collecting information for Statistics Iceland, which they publish on their website. Contingency plans …

At the beginning of the summer, on June 25, the annual consultation meeting of the Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education and professional associations of museum work took place in the premises of the Museum Council at Austurstræti 5. A consultation meeting is a one to two-hour local meeting that is usually called once a year and is intended to have a conversation about museum work issues. The meeting is held in accordance with Article 7 of the Museums Act …

Open for applications until September 30, 2025 The Museum Council would like to remind you that the deadline for submitting applications for recognition according to the Museums Act No. 141/2011 is September 30, 2025. All information about applications can be found here: https://safnarad.is/vidurkennd-sofn/umsokn-um-vidurkenningu/ 

The Museum Council office will be closed for summer vacation from Monday, July 7th to August 5th. If the matter is urgent, you can reach Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, the Director of the Museum Council, at 820-5450. We remind travelers that you can visit museums anywhere in the country and on our website you can find a map showing the location …

International Museum Day is celebrated on May 18th every year, and ICOM, the International Council of Museums, has been organizing the day since 1977. To mark the day, the Museum Council, the Icelandic Section of ICOM and FÍSOS hold an annual symposium related to the title of the day. The Icelandic Section of ICOM, FÍSOS and the Museum Council hosted the symposium on May 21st at the National Museum, which discussed, among other things, museums …

On the occasion of International Museum Day 2025, a symposium will be held on Wednesday, May 21st in the lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland. In a world that is constantly changing and conflicts are becoming increasingly prominent, the theme of this year's Museum Day, The Future of Museums in Changing Societies, invites us to consider the role and environment of museums in this regard. The Icelandic Section of ICOM, FÍSOS and the Museum Council invite …

The Creative Industries Research Centre (CIR) is hosting the conference Cultural Resources in Tourism, a conference on cultural tourism and a new tourism strategy until 2030 on May 14 in Hof, Akureyri. The conference is being held in collaboration with the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre (RMF) and the project received funding from Hvati, a fund of the Ministry of Culture and Trade. The conference will also be attended by a number of parties from the cultural sector and the tourism industry. The aim of the conference …

The Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education has appointed a new Museum Council, whose term of office is 1 February 2025 – 31 January 2029. The Council consists of: General representatives Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, chairman, appointed without nomination Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir vice chairman, appointed without nomination Guðrún Dröfn Whitehead, nominated by the Icelandic Section of ICOM, the International Council of Museums Hlynur Hallsson, nominated by the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors Jóhanna Erli …