Minutes of the 49th meeting of the Museum Council, March 30, 2006, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.,
National Gallery of Iceland, Laufásvegur 12, 101 Reykjavík
Present were: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Jón Gunnar Ottósson, Sveinn Kristinsson, Karl Rúnar Þórsson and Rakel Halldórsdóttir. Ólafur Kvaran announced his absence.
1. The minutes of the 48th meeting were approved and signed.
2. Report of the Managing Director. Icelandic Museum of Technology. An article from Morgunblaðið on March 14, 2006, about the Icelandic Museum of Technology was discussed. The possibility of exhibitions, in line with those discussed in the article and based on natural sciences, being part of the planned Icelandic Museum of Natural History was discussed. According to the Museums Act, special legislation must be enacted regarding the Icelandic Museum of Natural History, and it is urgent that this be established as soon as possible. Application by Dr. Bjarni F. Einarsson at the Icelandic Archaeological Institute, An application for permission to export animal bones for research purposes was sent for processing to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History in accordance with the law. Museum Council logo. The Managing Director has spoken with designers Hildigunn Gunnarsdóttir and Svanfríð Þorsteins about designing a logo for the Museums Council. They have, among other things, worked on projects for the National Gallery of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland. It was agreed to request ideas from them, which will be presented to the Council. Survey by the Icelandic Museums Council on the status of museum registration, March 2006 will be sent to museums, centers and certain institutions that hold collections of any kind on Friday, March 31. The Director has moved lectures on the Museum Council, museum law, the legal environment for museums and the overall state of museum affairs in this country on a course in tourism management at the University of Hólar (via distance learning) and on a course in tourism studies at the University of Iceland. Icelandic Museum Day 2006The working group for the promotion of Icelandic Museum Day 2006 has begun work on the implementation of the promotion of Icelandic Museum Day this year.
3. Revamped Museums Council website. The work on setting up the new website of the Icelandic Museum Council is in its final stages. The Executive Director presented the site to the council members from a website where the page is temporarily stored. According to information from EC Software, the plan was to launch the site on March 30th or 31st on the domain www.safnarad.is.
4. Natural History Museums – application for project funding from the Museum Fund 2006 for a registration system for natural history museums. Continued discussion of the application from the last meetings. It was agreed to postpone the decision as a verbal message was received from the Ministry of Education to the effect that it was the Ministry's strong desire that the project be postponed until the planned Icelandic Museum of Natural History has been established, as the museum is overseeing the project. The Museum Council agreed to request a formal letter with justification regarding this desire from the Ministry.
5. Museum Council field trip 2006. The Council's field trips have been an important part of forming the overall picture of the conditions of institutions in museum work in Iceland that is essential for the Council's activities. In accordance with the decision of the last meeting, the Museum Council's 2006 field trip will go to East Iceland. The trip was scheduled for 26 and 27 April, but it was decided to bring it forward by one day, to 25 and 26 April. It is hoped that information from a survey on the status of museum registration will have been received before the trip.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM/RH.