Minutes of the 3rd meeting of the Museum Council, at Lyngás 7, Garðabær,
January 21, 2002, at 1:15 PM.
Present were Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Þorgeir Ólafsson, Gísli Sverrir Árnason, Karla Kristjánsdóttir, and Jóhann Ásmundsson, who recorded the minutes. Jón Gunnar Ottósson announced his absence.
Agenda:
The chair welcomed the attendees. Jóhann Ásmundsson joins as the new representative of the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Professionals, as Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson has stepped down as the association's chair and JÁ has taken over.
- The minutes of the last meeting were submitted for approval. KK noted a misprint at the beginning of the previous minutes; it has been corrected. The minutes were approved.
- Regulations.
New regulations under the Museums Act No. 106/2001. The Ministry of Culture reviewed which provisions of the new Museums Act call for regulations.Article 6 states that principal collections may not accept gifts that come with conditions, but the Minister of Education may grant an exemption from this provision if special reasons warrant it. A regulation must be issued specifying in more detail the conditions for such an exemption.
Article 7 of the museum act deals with the loan of objects; it states that more detailed rules regarding the loan of objects and works shall be set forth in a regulation.
Article 11 deals with start-up grants for museums; procedures need to be established. This provision may conflict with the rules on the renovation fund for cultural buildings.
There was some discussion about the implementation of these regulations. The Ministry of Justice will send more detailed drafts to committee members by email.
- Museum Fund Allocation Rules.
MH reviewed drafts based on the rules for allocating funds to community museums. The regulation defines who is entitled to operating and project grants. Individual items were reviewed. Substantive proposed amendments were raised, and MH will send the revised drafts to committee members by email. Discussion of the evaluation of allocations to individual museums was postponed until the next meeting.The chair requested proposals from committee members by email between meetings. Clear rules must be established regarding who is eligible for funding from the fund, for which projects, that applications be submitted in a standardized and uniform format, and that allocation and evaluation criteria be clear.
A specific flaw in the new museum law was pointed out: it does not provide for grants for various projects that fall under general museum activities, as the law only addresses grants for museums. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate whether the scope of the Museum Council can be expanded by regulation.
- Introduction of directors and collections in the relevant professional field, It was postponed until the next meeting. JÁ mentioned that the Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Professionals is compiling a comprehensive list of museums in Iceland, in which they will attempt to classify them according to their nature and activities.
- 2002 Collections Fund Grant Applications.MH presented a list of applications from 54 museums. The Museum Fund has about 58 million króna to distribute. Meeting participants agreed that the 2002 allocations should largely follow those of previous years, since it will not be possible to make allocations under the new regulations. However, it would be necessary to advertise for grant applications for 2003 according to the new rules as soon as possible. The discussion on the fund's distribution was postponed to the next meeting.
KK requested that meeting minutes, meeting notices, and other communications between council members also be sent to the alternates.
- Next meeting Announced on Friday, February 21, at the National Museum at 1:00 PM.
- Meeting adjourned 3:00 PM/YES