232nd Board of Trustees Meeting

Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Meeting Location: Safnahúsið, Hverfisgata 

Present: Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, Chair; Gunnhildur Ásta Guðmundsdóttir, Vice Chair; Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir; Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir; and Hlynur Hallsson.  

The meeting was attended on behalf of the main collections: For the National Gallery of Iceland: Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir; for the National Museum of Natural History of Iceland: Hilmar Malmquist. The National Museum of Iceland was unable to send a representative this time. 

Staff of the Board of Trustees: Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director, who writes the minutes, and Klara Þórhallsdóttir. 

1. Matter for presentation

  1.  Overview of the council's activities since the last meeting. 
  2. A project about response plans for collections. 
  3. Following the transfer of information technology to Umbra, the collection council needs a service provider who can assist with matters that fall outside the agreement with Umbra. A partnership with Prod Ltd. was proposed for this purpose. 
  4. The Collection Council has been registered in Green Steps in Government Operations, see: https://graenskref.is/ and it is estimated that the council has taken at least the first step this fall. 
  5. Relocation of the Office of the Board of the National Gallery. The lease in Gimli will not be renewed, and the office will move this fall to premises on Hafnarstræti along with other institutions from Gimli. As before, the Reykjavík Arts Festival will lease space to the Board of the National Gallery. 
  6. The affairs of a single accredited museum were discussed. 
  7. The Museum Council will submit a review regarding item 120 from the Parliament's Committee and Analysis Department: a motion for a parliamentary resolution on the funding for the preservation, rescue, and restoration of the ship and boat heritage. The Museum Council welcomes this proposal, as these issues have often been discussed within the council, with many examples of boats owned by museums that have been unable to be saved due to a lack of funding. 

2. Matters for Decision

  1. Evaluation report for the Garðskagi Folk Museum approved. 
  2. Klara Thorhallsdottir also reviewed the status of monitoring and follow-up for those collections that have not completed monitoring after visits. 

3. Other matters

  • A response was received from the Cultural Center of Thingeyjar due to their request for Salvage and disposal of six boats which was presented at the last meeting. The response was thorough and detailed, and the collection council agrees that the items in question will be culled in the manner outlined in the responses from the Þingeyja Cultural Center.  
  • Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir and Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir spoke about a panel discussion they were on last March 14th., Collection on the edge. 
  • Harpa Þórsdóttir sits on a working group of the Ministry of Culture regarding roadside signs on national roads. Þóra Björk reported on the group's work, as she attended the meeting on Harpa Þórsdóttir's behalf in her absence. 

 

Meeting adjourned at. 17:00/TBT