Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Location: Museum House, Hverfisgata
Present: Ólafur Kvaran, chairman, Anna Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, vice chairman, Haraldur Þór Egilsson, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir, Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Harpa Þórsdóttir and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, managing director. Hilmar J. Malmquist was absent due to illness.
0. Approval and signing of the minutes of the 162nd meeting of the Museum Council
1. Presentation case
1.1. Overview of the Council's activities since the last meeting.
1.2. The third round of inspections was presented to the council. This time, eight museums in the capital area are being inspected and a notification will be sent to them before the summer holidays. The museums' forms will be submitted around October 15th.
1.3. The annual report of museums is part of the supervision of recognized museums. The Director General introduced several changes that will be made to the report in order to simplify and clarify the inclusion in the report.
1.4. Resolution of the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Owners to the Minister of Education and Culture regarding allocation from the museum fund presented to the council.
1.5. Letter regarding the publication of images in museum catalogues sent to the Minister of Education and Culture discussed.
1.6. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports and the City of Kópavogur, the operations and collection of the Icelandic Music Museum in Kópavogur will be transferred to the National Museum of Iceland and the National Library of Iceland – University Library on the basis of an agreement between the City of Kópavogur, the museums and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. In this way, the collection of the museum is secured and the knowledge that had been generated at the museum is preserved.
2. Matters for decision
2.1. Regarding allocations from the museum fund: the museum council agreed to establish a working group on procedures for granting grants from the museum fund. The working group will submit a memorandum to the museum council at the end of August, which would be taken into account in the revision of the procedures that the museum council must approve at its September meeting. The museum council would not be bound by the group's proposals.
2.2. Due to allocation from the museum fund: the museum council approved adding a grant type for the allocation of project grants dedicated to lifelong learning grants to recognized museums in the fall, course/lecturers and increase the maximum amount of applications to 300,000 kr.
2.3. Regarding allocation from the museum fund: the museum council agreed that applicants for operating grants from the museum fund will henceforth apply for one of the four categories specified in the museum fund's allocation rules.
2.4. Due to allocation from the museum fund: the museum board approved the following timeline for applications to the museum fund 2018 (it is noted, however, that dates may shift by a few days):
- Applications for the museum fund opened on October 15, 2017.
- Deadline for applications November 15, 2017
- The evaluation committee will receive applications for review on December 1, 2017.
- First meeting no later than January 10, 2018
- Allocation meeting January 25, 2018
- Proposal to the Minister by February 1, 2018
2.5. The Museum Council approved an application from Gerðarsafn for a change in the use of a continuing education grant.
2.6. The Museum Council discussed the contents of a letter to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science regarding the recognition of museums and agreed to send it, along with the opinion of Áslaugar Björgvinsdóttir, Hdl., to the ministry.
3. Other issues
Haraldur Þór Egilsson spoke about the need to have accessible minimum requirements for storage space from the Museum Council. The Museum Council agreed to prepare a document that would provide minimum requirements for storage space and what must be kept in mind. The document would be prepared with the Museum Council's Supervisory Committee and the National Museum of Iceland.
Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir spoke about the newly published museum policy of the National Museum of Iceland in the field of cultural heritage, which can be found here. here.
No further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. / ÞBÓ