21.05.2015 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, Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, and Ágústa Kristófersdóttir, executive director. Absent: Hilmar J. Malmquist and Anna Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir
Approval and signing of the minutes of the 141st meeting of the Museum Council
Guest at the meeting: Eiríkur Þorláksson, specialist in the Ministry of Education and Culture. The meeting reviewed the relations between the Museum Council and the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Presentation case
1. Overview of activities since the last meeting
2. Museum Act and its effectiveness, agreed to specifically examine whether it is possible to include fixed criteria in the Act to reduce the number of items based on evaluation and also shorten the deadline for submitting reports on the use of grants.
3. Guidelines for photography for registration purposes, agreed to encourage the main museums to set standards for photography that are comparable to the standards for registration. The project has been carried out in consultation with the Museum Council. A reminder will be sent out immediately to recognized museums to take good care of the photography of artifacts that are part of the registration.
Matter for decision
4. Utilization of grants in 2013, all grant recipients have submitted reports on the utilization of grants or applied for a deferral for utilization.
5. Request for postponement of the use of a grant from the Árnesingi Art Museum approved and granted until the end of 2015.
6. Request for postponement of the use of a grant from the Þingeyingi Cultural Center approved and granted until the end of 2015.
7. A request for an allocation from the museum fund in 2015 from the Herring Museum in Siglufjörður was refused on the grounds that no applications from the museum were found in the fund's application database despite a careful search. The museum was also unable to demonstrate that an application had been completed and sent to the fund by sending a copy of the receipt that all applicants receive as soon as they submit an application.
Other issues:
Gruðbrandur Benediktsson introduced the European Museum Prize. The next meeting of the Museum Council will be on June 18. No further business was discussed and the meeting was adjourned at 14:00/ÁK