213th Museum Council Meeting

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 – 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Museum House

Present: Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chair; Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir; Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir, Hlynur Hallsson, Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir, Anna Katrín Guðmundsdóttir (for NMSÍ), Ágústa Kristófersdóttir, Harpa Þórsdóttir, and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director.

Signing of minutes

1. Presentation case

    1. An overview of the council's activities since the last meeting. Among other things, a report was given on the symposium on archival storage for collections, „We don't talk about storage, but preservation housing,“ which was held on May 9 in collaboration with ICOM Iceland and FÍSOS.
    2. The Council for the National Museum and the Ministry of Culture received a challenge from the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Professionals stating that the main annual allocation must be moved up. For the past few years, the Council for the National Museum has had it on its agenda to make the allocation earlier, but various factors have delayed this. The Council wants to respond positively to this challenge and will initiate the application process earlier in the fall of 2022, with the goal of having a proposal approved by the Council and sent to the Minister for approval at the very beginning of 2023.
    3. A working group for an action plan on strategic planning for museum work was discussed; the group will include two members from the Museum Council, one from each major museum, and two from the staff of accredited museums.
    4. A new payment procedure for grants from the Grants Fund has been implemented, whereby the Grants Council now receives payment requests for awarded grants and forwards them to the Ministry of Culture and Commerce. Previously, this task was handled by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
    5. The Executive Director reported on a project for an Emergency Plan for museums, which will be developed at the request of the Ministry of Culture and Commerce in collaboration with major museums and other professionals.
    6. The annual trip of the museum board was discussed, and it is planned to take place this fall to museums in South Iceland.

2. Matters for decision

    1. A collaboration was approved with Ólöf Gerður Sigfúsdóttir, an upcoming postdoctoral researcher in museology, regarding her research project.
    2. Six visitation reports for Part 2 of the monitoring of accredited museums were approved. The museums are: Reykjanesbær Folk Museum, Reykjanesbær Art Museum, Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum, Gljúfrasteinn, Kópavogur Natural History Museum, Hafnarborg, and Gerðarsafn

3. Other issues

  • A performance at the Nýlistasafnið that became a police matter, and the affairs of the Menningarmiðstöð Þingeyinga, were discussed.

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM / THB