Minutes of the 61st meeting of the Museum Council, September 11, 2007, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.,
National Museum of Iceland, Suðurgata, 101 Reykjavík
Present were: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Helgi Torfason, Karl Rúnar Þórsson, Steinunn Ósk Kolbeinsdóttir, Anna Þorbjörg Þorgrímsdóttir
1. Minutes of the 59th meeting and the 60th meeting approved and signed.
2. Director's report. Employment contract Acting CEO introduced. Meeting of the Nordic Committee on Museum Affairs in Oslo in May. At the request of the Museums Council, the acting director attended the meeting. The aim of the meeting was to find a way forward for cooperation between the Nordic institutions that deal with museum affairs in each country. No conclusions have been presented, but a Finnish project that contributes to increasing staff awareness of museum work and increasing the quality of museum operations and helping museums prioritize their activities attracted particular attention. Also noteworthy was the emphasis that ABM-utvikling in Norway placed on the importance of a strong publication series under the institution, which was used both to educate the museum workers themselves and as a tool to increase the authorities' understanding of museum work. Temporary export of cultural relics Two applications for the export of cultural relics were received by the Museums Council this summer.: Application by Dr. Guðrún Sveinbjarnardóttir, project manager of the Reykholt Research Project, for the temporary export of glass fragments for research purposes. Application by the National Gallery of Iceland for the temporary export of Svavar Guðnason's painting, Íslandslag, in connection with the installation of the exhibition Cobra-Reykjavík in Denmark and Norway. Both applications had been approved. Museum Council website: Presentation of the project safnastarf.is which is almost complete. The final cost of the design and construction of the website was presented and the Museum Council's proposed editorial policy for safnastarf.is was presented. The report The Educational Role of Museums. The report, which is the final product of a consultation project initiated by the Museum Council, is now ready. It will be made available in pdf format on the Museum Council's website soon. Sigrún Kristjánsdóttir, Director of Museum Education at the National Museum, has done a lot of work in connection with the report and, together with the Director, proposes that the Museum Council's publishing policy be reviewed in its entirety, including consideration of a uniform appearance for reports and editorial policy. The discussion will be taken up in connection with the Museum Council's working meeting on October 9th. Icelandic Museum Day. The results of a survey among museum staff were presented. 34 responses were received from museum representatives. 88% respondents believe that attendance is "much better" or "better" than on a normal Sunday and almost 83% that attendance is "much better" or "better" than on a normal weekend. Almost 80% respondents say that museum staff are generally satisfied with the museum day.
3. The Museum Council's annual accounts for 2006 Last year's annual accounts were signed by all the main representatives and the CEO present in two copies. The annual accounts will be sent to the National Audit Office when all the main representatives have signed the accounts.
4. Committee salary. In accordance with the decision of the Museum Council at its 60th meeting, the Minister of Culture submitted draft letters to the Remuneration Committee requesting an explanation of why committee salaries for representatives of interest groups were reduced. It was also agreed to request information from the Minister of Culture on the Ministry's payments to similar committees. It was decided that the Minister of Culture would speak with Eirík Þorláksson and Svein Kristinsson before letters were sent to the above-mentioned parties.
5. Museum Council field trip. The Museum Council's field trip, which according to the meeting schedule was to be held on 26-27 October, will be postponed. It was decided to hold a full-day working meeting on 9 October where the activities and role of the Museum Council will be discussed on a broad basis. The 62nd meeting of the Museum Council will be held on the same day at 11:30-13:00.
6. Museum Studies at the University - Declaration of Intent. In accordance with the decision of the Museum Council at its 60th meeting, the Working Group on the Development of Master's Studies submitted a brief statement of intent on the Museum Council's continued support for the group's plans to establish an MA program in museology at the University of Iceland. The statement states that the Museum Council considers increased education for museum workers to be a major interest of Icelandic museums and an important prerequisite for strengthening professional museum work in the country. The Museum Council also declares its continued willingness to promote that the country's museums and their staff take an active part in teaching and mentoring students, accept students for internships, and that museum databases can be used for research on museums and museum work. The Museum Council approved the statement of intent.
7. FÍSOS's mobile school will be held from September 18-21 in Scotland.It was agreed that the Board of Directors would present the following projects on behalf of the Museum Council: the website www.safnastarf.is (Opens in a new browser window), plans to develop a museology program at MA level at the University of Iceland (with Karli Rúnar) and a report by the Museum Council on the educational role of museums (with Sigrún Kristjánsdóttir). However, due to lack of facilities in Scotland, it may not be possible to implement such a presentation.
8. Topics Natural History Museum of Iceland. Helgi Torfason, director of the museum, presented the current situation, briefly reviewed the history of the Icelandic Museum of Natural History and discussed the status and nature of natural history/technical museums and exhibitions in neighboring countries. It was decided that the Natural History Museum and its issues will be discussed in detail at a working meeting of the Museum Council on October 9th.
9. Copyright issues Knútur Brun has requested that the Museum Council hold a special extraordinary meeting to discuss copyright issues in museums. The Museum Council agreed to invite Knútur to attend the next meeting of the Museum Council, which will be held on October 9th. It was agreed that the Minister of Culture would appoint a consultative committee on copyright issues in museums.
10. Kristján Runólfsson Museum. Lýður Pálsson, director of the Árnesinga Regional Museum, has studied the case at the request of the Minister of Culture, following a presentation by the chairman of the Hveragerði Town Council at the 58th meeting of the Museum Council. It was stated that Kristján Runólfsson intends to sell the Museum's collection on the open market. Therefore, Hveragerði Town requested the Museum Council's support in saving the cultural values in question. Kristján Runólfsson was active in Sauðárkrókur between 1987-2004, variously in or without collaboration with the Regional Museum. Based on notes from Lýður and information that the Minister of Culture has obtained from Sigríður Sigurðardóttir, director of the Skagfirðinga Regional Museum, it was decided that the Minister of Culture would continue to work on the case. It was decided to contact the Ministry of Education and Culture and seek advice there. It was also decided to seek legal advice from Erna s. Árnadóttir, attorney at law.
11. Presentation Technical Museum of Iceland – preparatory committee. The report was postponed until the next meeting of the council on October 9.
12. Charter of the Icelandic Design MuseumThe report was postponed until the next council meeting on October 9th.
13. Next meeting and other matters.
The next meeting was scheduled for October 9th in connection with a full-day working meeting of the Museum Council.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.