222nd Board of Trustees Meeting

Monday, April 17, 2023, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Location: Museum House

Present: Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chair; Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir; Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir; Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir; Hlynur Hallsson (from 2:00 PM); Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir (from 2:00 PM), Hilmar Malmquist, Harpa Þórsdóttir, Klara Þórhallsdóttir, specialist, and Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, executive director.

1. Matter for presentation

  1. An overview of the board's activities since the last meeting. Among other things, it reported on the state party's 2023 strategic planning, which the board submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Commerce.
  2. The permanent position of specialist in the office of the Board of Museums has been open since April 1st. The recruitment process was managed by the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Culture and Commerce. Klara Thorhallsdottir was hired for the position; she will be working at 70%.
  3. A symposium will be held in collaboration with the National Council of Museums, ICOM, and FÍSOS on May 16. The symposium is held in connection with International Museum Day on May 18, whose theme for 2023 is „Museums, Sustainability and Well-being.“.
  4. The annual trip of the museum board was discussed, and it was decided that it would be in September, visiting Sagnheimar and the Skógar Folk Museum.
  5. The status of three accredited museums was discussed. The Industrial Museum in Akureyri was discussed, as the museum received an operating grant from the City of Akureyri while its merger with the Akureyri Museum of Cultural Heritage is being worked on. A KPMG report on cultural affairs in Kópavogur was also discussed; of the cultural institutions discussed in the report, the Gerðarsafn and the Kópavogur Natural History Museum are accredited museums. It was approved to send a letter to the Kópavogur Town Council and the Kópavogur Arts and Culture Council regarding the report and its recommendations.

2. Matters for Decision

  1. A change was approved to the procedures for Phase 3 monitoring of accredited museums – monitoring of registration. Instead of a telephone assessment of registration grants, several museums will be selected annually for this monitoring. However, the monitoring would still be carried out by evaluating grant-funded registration projects from the museum fund.
  2. Approved addition to monitoring – Requirement to notify of a change of premises for recognized museums. When making changes to the facilities of accredited museums, whether for exhibition or storage purposes, there is a clear requirement that the museums notify the museum board in advance for approval and that the board's supervisory committee reviews the changes if necessary. The requirements for the premises of accredited museums, as set forth in the accreditation standards and in Part 2 of the accreditation monitoring, will be taken into account.
  3. The Action Plan for the Strategic Plan for Library Services was discussed, with a decision postponed until the next meeting.

3. Other matters

Three other matters were discussed: From the Icelandic Village – a reiteration of the content of a presentation given at the last meeting, the substance of which was a request for a consultation meeting on the affairs of the Icelandic Village. The Sveinssafn was discussed, and there was also a discussion about the new premises for the Árnastofnun and a new manuscript exhibition there.

Meeting adjourned at 3:15 PM / THB