Minutes of the 54th meeting of the Museum Council, November 30, 2006, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Laufásvegur 12, 101 Reykjavík
Present were: Ólafur Kvaran, Karl Rúnar Þórsson, Sveinn Kristinsson, Anna Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. The minutes of the 52nd and 53rd meetings were approved and signed.
2. Report of the Managing Director. New computer equipment for the Museum CouncilDue to poor performance and frequent computer failures at the Museums Council, the computer equipment at the council's office has been replaced. Museum Council seminar with Gísli Sverr Árnason November 15th, 12-1 pm in the lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland went well and was well attended. Gísli Sverrir presented the results of his master's thesis in public administration, which is entitled District Museums in Iceland and examines the reorganization of museum affairs in the country with district museums. The Nordic Museums Committee under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers will be closed at the turn of the year after 10 years of operation. A meeting on 9 November in Copenhagen aimed to establish a new network for communication between public museum institutions in the Nordic countries. The chairman of the Museum Council, who has been on the committee since the beginning, Ms. Minister and Eiríkur Þorláksson, an expert in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, attended the meeting. The Museum Council will be part of the aforementioned network. European Museum of the Year Award 2008Proposals for nominations for EMYA2008 have been requested from the National Museum of Iceland, the Art Museum of Iceland, the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors and the Icelandic Section of ICOM, the International Council of Museums. Responses must be received by November 15th. Aviation Heritage Committee, which was appointed by the Minister of Education to examine issues in the field of Icelandic aviation heritage, has completed its work and submitted a report with its recommendations to the Ministry of Education. RH was an employee of the committee, while MH chaired it. A consultative meeting of the Museums Council on the educational role of museums. A draft report on the work of the meeting, which was held on October 19th and 20th, and the policy development were presented to the council members. Applications to the 2007 Museum FundApplications received by the Museum Fund were briefly reviewed. The goal is to complete the allocation by the end of January-February or early February.
3. Budget Committee – grants for museum work – debates in the Althingi. The Museum Council discussed the budget committee's grants for museum work and the debate in the Althingi on the matter. It is urgent that grants to museums from the budget be increasingly directed through the Museum Fund with professional consideration by the Museum Council.
4. Export of cultural propertyA request for the temporary export of artifacts from the archaeological excavation at Hrísbrú in Mosfellsdalur in 2006 has been sent to the National Museum of Iceland and the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency for comment.
5. Application by the Natural History Museum in Neskaupsstaður for an extension of the use of a grantThe Natural History Museum in Neskaupsstaður has requested an extension of the use of a grant from the Museum Fund for the year 2006. The request was approved.
6. Message from the management company Sarps. The Museum Council discussed a submission from the Sarp Management Company requesting the Council's confirmation of Sarp as an approved registration system pursuant to Article 10 of the Museums Act No. 106/2001. The confirmation of Sarp as an approved registration system pursuant to Article 10 was approved.
7. Natural History Museums – application for a project grant from the Icelandic Museum Fund 2006 for a registration system for natural history museumsThe case has been postponed in recent meetings as the requested information from the Ministry of Education has not been received. The case was postponed again.
8. Next meeting and other mattersThe next scheduled meeting is November 30th.
Other issues:
Electronic access to cultural and natural heritage. Planning for a conference on electronic access to cultural and natural heritage in February 2007 has begun. on registration systems and museum registration issues. The conference will be a continuation of last year's conference and this year's consultation meeting on the educational role of museums. Basic aspects such as who cultural and natural heritage serves, the democratic importance of access to it, the staging and interpretation of cultural and natural heritage and cooperation between institutions on its utilization will be examined. The target group will include museum workers and teachers. The plan is to hold the conference on February 14. The Association of Icelandic Museums and Museum Workers is working on organizing a continuing education course on a similar topic, i.e. registration issues in museums. The plan is to establish a connection between the two. The chairman and executive director will continue to work on the issue, also in collaboration with the Icelandic Museums and Archives Association.
Appointment of a new chairman and vice chairman in the near future. ÓK will step down as Director of the National Gallery of Iceland on 1 March 2007, when his 10-year term of office will end according to law. According to the Museums Act, ÓK will then no longer have a seat on the Museums Council. The Minister of Education will write a letter to the Ministry of Education and Culture drawing attention to this and requesting that the Minister of Education and Culture appoint a new chairman and vice-chairman of the Museums Council from 1 March next year.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 12:45/RH