Minutes of the 1st meeting of the Museum Council, at Lyngás 7, Garðabær,
November 20, 2001, at 1:15 PM.
Present were Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Þorgeir Ólafsson, Ólafur Kvaran, Gísli Sverrir Árnason (by phone), Jón Gunnar Ottósson, and Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson*, who wrote the minutes.
Agenda:
The chairperson welcomed the attendees to work.
- Meeting format.The council's meeting procedures were discussed, and it was agreed that its regular meetings would be held on the last Thursday of each month. The next meeting was scheduled for December 7, 2001.
- Museum Act and National Monuments Act.Regulations. The role and objectives of the new museum law and the national heritage law were discussed, as well as the work still remaining on drafting regulations for the new laws. Meeting participants stated that it was clear the council would need one staff member to oversee its scope of work as defined in the museum law. It was agreed that the Museum Council would send a formal letter to the Minister of Education requesting the ministry's proposals for a draft regulation for the council.
Licensing by the Museum Board was discussed, such as for the export of cultural assets (pursuant to the relevant laws), and it is clear that this function must be addressed in the board's regulations.
- Museum Fund.Three issues were discussed regarding the fund: the lack of a financial contribution to the collection fund in the 2002 budget, where the council's operating funds should come from, and finally, the composition of the collection fund.
The reasons why the endowment fund is missing from the proposed 2002 budget were discussed.
The council's authority to allocate funds for its operations was discussed, and it emerged that under the museum statutes the council did not have such authority. Therefore, the museum board's operations must be financed from a dedicated budget line.
The Ministry of Education submitted a memorandum to the Budget Committee in response to a question about which budget items should be allocated to the museum fund.
It was also discussed that the museum board needed to establish its own procedures for allocating grants from the museum fund, and that the board should carefully review its oversight role.
It was approved that the museum council send a formal letter to the Minister of Education, drawing his attention to the fact that the museum fund is not in the 2002 budget and urging him to bring this to the attention of the Budget Committee.
It was also agreed that MH would draw the Ministry of Education's attention to the fact that the museum fund must be expanded beyond what is currently provided for, as evidenced by the minister's memo to the Budget Committee, since the number of museums now eligible to apply for grants from the fund has increased.
- Strategic Planning and Collection Policy.MH reported on the strategic work currently underway in the field of heritage and folk museums. OK spoke about the need to do the same in the field of art museums, and the meeting attendees agreed.
- Other issues. Notice of grant awards from the endowment fund. MH undertook to draft a notice of grant awards from the endowment fund.
Nothing more was discussed.
Meeting adjourned 14:40/SBH
* Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson served on the board of trustees as a representative of the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Professionals, before Jóhann Ásmundsson took his seat.