Minutes of the 55th meeting of the Museum Council, January 18, 2007, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Laufásvegur 12, 101 Reykjavík.
Present were: Ólafur Kvaran, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Jón Gunnar Ottósson, Karl Rúnar Þórsson, Sveinn Kristinsson and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. The minutes of the 54th meeting will be signed at the next meeting.
2. Report of the Managing Director. Museum Council seminar with Ernur Hrafnkelsson, January 10th, 12-13 in the lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland went well and was well attended. Örn presented the results of his master's project in public administration, which is entitled Collaboration between libraries, monuments and archives and examines, among other things, the possibility of increased cooperation between museums in Iceland. The Þingeyringa District Committee has requested Executive Director's assessment of the work, status, strategy and potential of the Þingeyingi museums in consultation with the National Heritage Officer and Sigríður Sigurðardóttir, director of the Skagfirðinga Museum of Local History. It is planned to establish a Þingeyinga Cultural Centre, of which all of the Þingeyinga museums will be a part. Cooperation committee of parties from public Nordic museum institutions, which was appointed before the dissolution of the Nordic Museums Committee at the turn of the year, will meet for the first time in Oslo on 23 and 24 May 2019. A managing director was appointed to the committee, but will probably not be able to attend the meeting. It was discussed that the future chairman of the Museums Council or one of the council members would replace the managing director, further details will be decided later. It was discussed idea by Gísli Sverrir Árnason, at the Museum Congress spring 2007It was decided to look into the idea in more detail later, perhaps this fall. Reports on the use of grants from the Museum Fund 2006 have been received from museums, but the deadline for submitting the report was set for the end of the year.
3. Museums Council's seminar on electronic access to cultural and natural heritage in March 2007. A symposium on electronic accessibility scheduled for February will be moved to March 14, 2007. The Museum Council discussed a draft agenda for the symposium. Work will continue on the organization of the symposium.
4. Meeting schedule 2007. The draft meeting schedule for 2007 was discussed. Council members will submit comments on the draft before the next meeting.
5. 2007 operating plan and service agreementThe 2007 operating plan was approved. The service agreement between the Museum Council, the Museum Fund and the National Gallery of Iceland was approved.
6. European Museum of the Year Award 2008It was agreed to nominate Reykjavík Museum for the new addition, the Settlement Exhibition 871+/-2 at Aðalstræti, for the European Museum of the Year Award 2008. Reykjavík Museum will be formally notified of the nomination.
7. Applications to the 2007 Museum FundApplications for the 2007 Museum Fund were discussed. It was decided to hold an allocation meeting on February 1st, with the aim of completing the allocations at that meeting.
8. Export of works by Kjarval to an exhibition in Denmark. The Museum Council agreed to authorize the export of the cultural property. The matter will be referred to the Minister of Education for approval pursuant to Article 7 of the Museums Act No. 106/2001.
9. Ministry of Education and Culture's statement regarding the government's draft policy on archaeological preservation, together with a reportThe Museum Council approved the comment. No comments were made on the draft policy.
10. Export of cultural property. A request for the temporary export of artifacts from the archaeological excavation at Hrísbrú in Mosfellsdalur in 2006 was sent to the National Museum of Iceland and the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency for comment. Comments from both have been received. The Museum Council agreed to authorize the temporary export.
11. Natural History Museums – application for a project grant from the Icelandic Museum Fund 2006 for a registration system for natural history museums. The matter has been postponed at the last meetings as the requested information from the Ministry of Education has not been received. The matter was postponed again. The importance of receiving a response from the Ministry of Education before the 2007 allocation meeting was discussed.
12. Next meeting and other matters.
The next meeting, the 2007 allocation meeting, was set for February 1st.
The next meeting, the 2007 allocation meeting, was set for February 1st.
Other issues:
Unresolved issues of the Museums Council with the Ministry of Education:
The following matters of the Museum Council are pending with the Ministry of Education:
1. Request for the Ministry of Education's position on the Budget Committee's allocations for museum work – dated November 16, 2004
2. Request for a ruling regarding the interpretation of the Museums Act regarding whether an institution is run for profit or not – dated 11 July 2005
3. Request for a review of the committee salaries of representatives of interest groups on the Museum Council – dated 14 December 2005. Request reiterated: 23 October 2006
4. Request for a decision and repeated request for a review of the committee salaries of representatives of interest groups on the Museum Council – dated 26 October 2006.
5. Request for formal justification from the Ministry of Education and Culture on the Ministry's verbal requests regarding the delay in funding for the development of a registration system for natural history museums – dated 31 March 2006. Request reiterated: 27 April 2006, 16 May 2006, 4 October 2006, 29 November 2006 and 16 January 2007
The importance of receiving answers from the Ministry of Education and Culture to the Museums Council's pending requests was discussed. It is important that answers are received by February 1st regarding the issue of a registration system for natural history museums, and it is also important that answers are received as soon as possible to the Museums Council's request from December 2005 requesting a reassessment of the committee salaries of representatives of interest groups on the Museums Council. It was agreed that the Director General would request a meeting with Karítas Gunnarsdóttir at the Ministry of Education and Culture to push for the handling of the requests in the ministry.
100th anniversary of the National Monuments Act.
On November 14th, 2005, it will be 100 years since the National Heritage Act was enacted. The Museum Council discussed the issue in connection with the ongoing revision of the National Heritage Act, including the National Heritage Act, the Museum Act and the Act on the Export of Cultural Property. The revision has been ongoing for some time, but the Museum Council presented its ideas regarding the revision of the Museum Act to the Committee for the Revision of the Act at a meeting with the Committee, on December 5th, 2005. The Museum Council has not received information about the current status of the revision. The anniversary of the National Heritage Act on November 14th, 2005, would be an ideal opportunity to introduce the new National Heritage Act.
On November 14th, 2005, it will be 100 years since the National Heritage Act was enacted. The Museum Council discussed the issue in connection with the ongoing revision of the National Heritage Act, including the National Heritage Act, the Museum Act and the Act on the Export of Cultural Property. The revision has been ongoing for some time, but the Museum Council presented its ideas regarding the revision of the Museum Act to the Committee for the Revision of the Act at a meeting with the Committee, on December 5th, 2005. The Museum Council has not received information about the current status of the revision. The anniversary of the National Heritage Act on November 14th, 2005, would be an ideal opportunity to introduce the new National Heritage Act.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM/RH.