207th Museum Council Meeting

Thursday, October 21 – 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: The Museum and Teams

Present: Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chair, Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir, Hlynur Hallsson, Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir, Álfheiður Ingadóttir (on Teams on behalf of the National Museum of Natural History), Harpa Þórsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir (on Teams), and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director.

1. Presentation case

  1. Overview of the council's activities since the last meeting.
  2. Announcement of the 2021 Supplemental Allocation. Applications for the museum fund's supplemental allocation are open until 4:00 PM on Tuesday, October 26. Only accredited museums can apply for the supplemental allocation for professional development or for digital outreach. Funds will be allocated from the fund by the end of 2021, and the grant must be used no later than December 2022.
  3. The Cultural Drive – Action Plan for Arts and Culture to 2030 was introduced, which outlines cultural policy for the year 2030. The plan is in line with the current cultural policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
  4. Strategy for Museum Work – Action Plan. The first workshop on the action plan was held at the Museum Workers' Institute on Friday, October 15, from 10 AM to 12 PM, and was attended by over 60 museum professionals. The workshop was organized by Sjá Consulting and was open to all museum professionals. The workshop featured group work based on the overarching goals of the Strategy, followed by discussions and presentations of the groups' findings. The Museum Council will receive the data from the work from Sjá in the coming days, and the council will also hold a similar workshop on the action plan in the coming weeks.
  5. Matters concerning Sagnheimar in Vestmannaeyjar were discussed, as the museum's directors and the curator of Vestmannaeyjar Municipality requested assistance with the museum's housing situation and a possible upgrade of the natural history museum's exhibits at the Sea Life museum. Thóra Björk and conservator Kristín Gísladóttir traveled to Vestmannaeyjar on October 5th, where they met with museum staff and the town's mayor and finance director. Reports by KG on the museum's housing issues were presented and will be sent to the museum. These reports are being prepared as part of the second phase of monitoring for accredited museums.

2. Matters for decision

  1. Main Allocation 2022, application forms and application process timeline approved.
  2. A proposal was approved to process an application from one museum for recognition. The proposal will be sent to the Minister of Education and Culture for approval.

3. Other issues

Þóra Björk reported on the affairs of the Garðskagi Folk Museum. Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir reported on the establishment of the Center for Digital Humanities and Arts (MSHL). Its partners are the National Gallery of Iceland, the Reykjavík Art Museum, the RÚV Archive, the Árnasónastofnun, the University of Iceland, the Reykjavík University, the Iceland Academy of the Arts, the National Archives, the National Library of Iceland, and the National Museum of Iceland.

Meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM / THB