211th Museum Council Meeting

Thursday, February 24, 2022 – 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Museum House

Attendees 2:14-5:00 PM: Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chair; Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir; Hlynur Hallsson; Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir; Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director; and Jóhanna Símonardóttir and Áslaug Friðriksdóttir from Sjá Consulting.

Attendees: 16-17. Chairman Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir, Hlynur Hallsson, Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir, Harpa Þórsdóttir, and Executive Director Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir.

Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir and Hilmar Malmquist did not make it.

1. Matter for presentation

  1. Museum Council Workshop – Strategic Action Plan. The meeting began at 2 PM with a workshop by the Museum Council on the strategic action plan for museum work. The workshop was led by Jóhanna Símonardóttir and Áslaug Friðriksdóttir from Sjá Consulting.
  2. Overview of the council's activities since the last meeting. At 4:00 PM, Harpa Þórsdóttir joined the meeting. Among other things, it was reported that the Museum Council received a blanket exemption for museums from crowd size restrictions, but in the most recent regulation on crowd size restrictions, museums were forgotten.
  3. The 2020 budget and work plan was presented and is up for approval at the next meeting.
  4. Reported from the 2022 main allocation
  5. Symposium on Preservation Issues – The National Council of Cultural Heritage, ICOM, and FÍSOS have been collaborating on symposia and events since December 2020, and the first event is finally here. It will be a symposium on preservation issues, scheduled for May 9, 2022. The Executive Director spoke about the concept and the topics that will be addressed.

2. Matters for Decision

  1. The preservation and deaccessioning policy of the East Iceland Museum of Technology in Seyðisfjörður was approved, but it was submitted for approval by the National Museum.
  2. From the new Ministry of Culture and Commerce – suggestions and recommendations regarding policy and priorities were requested, and the museum council discussed them.

3. Other matters

  • A request was received from one collection regarding a change in the use of a grant. The request was denied.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM / THB