Wednesday, October 9, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Meeting Location: 5 Austurstræti, 4th floor
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; for the National Museum of Iceland: Harpa Þórsdóttir.
Staff of the Board of Trustees: Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Executive Director, who writes the minutes, and Klara Þórhallsdóttir.
1. Matter for presentation
- An overview of the council's activities since the last meeting. Among other things, the agenda for the council's fall trip was discussed.
- Next year's funding. The Heritage Fund is facing a 30 million króna cut from the previous year, but the cut is double, both to the general cultural fund and to the budget line itself. The executive director has both sent a letter to the ministry and met with the Director of Cultural Affairs, and at this stage, the ministry is reviewing the matter.
- Guidelines for creating a response plan. With prevention and response plans now in the spotlight, the Council for Museums, in collaboration with conservator Nathalie Jacqueminet, has prepared guidelines for creating response plans alongside online courses offered to all accredited museums. However, on the Council of Museums' website, useful information can be found, such as a template form that can be used as a reference for what a response plan might look like, along with a checklist and detailed instructions.
- The Museum Workers' School was held in Akureyri from October 2-4, and the Museum Council hosted three events.;
- October, 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM: Museum Council Action Plan & the Global Goals.
Thóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Director of the Museum Council - October, 10:45-11:00 AM:MOI – Self-Assessment for Museums.
Klara Thorhallsdottir, Museum Council - October, 10:00 – 11:30:Workshop and presentation on collection response plans
Collections Council – Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Klara Þórhallsdóttir, Nathalie Jacqueminet and Björk Hólm
- October, 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM: Museum Council Action Plan & the Global Goals.
- Blue Shield conference in Romania. Klara attended the annual meeting and conference of the international Blue Shield organization from September 9-12 on behalf of the board of trustees. The conference was held in Bucharest, Romania, in cooperation with the Romanian National Institute for Heritage, and its theme was Shielding the Past: 70 years of the Hague Convention to mark the 70th anniversary of UNESCO's 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Klara went along with the chairperson of the Icelandic Blue Shield National Committee, Heiðar Lind Hansson. An informative and useful conference where national committees from around the world presented the situation in their home countries, The 1954 Hague Convention was discussed, and how its provisions could be implemented, with a special emphasis on developing response plans, which was particularly useful for the museum council's current projects.
- Harpa Þórsdóttir, the National Museum Director, reported on a meeting of Nordic National Museum Directors that she attended.
- The Arts Council moved to the fourth floor of Austurstræti 2 at the end of September. The floor also houses the offices of the council, the Reykjavík Arts Festival, the Performing Arts Center, Art for All, the Visual Arts Center, and the Literary Center.
2. Matters for Decision
– no cases for decision
3. Other matters
- The next board of trustees meeting has been scheduled.
- The status of supervisory matters was discussed.
- Review of the council's website was discussed.
- A conference at the Reykjavík Art Museum this fall in collaboration with Bifröst was discussed, as well as the policies of museums and cultural institutions and the participation of the museum board in it.
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM / THB