Minutes of the 64th meeting of the Museum Council, November 12, 2007, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
National Museum of Iceland, Suðurgata, 101 Reykjavík
Present: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, chairman, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Helgi Torfason, Karl Rúnar Þórsson, Anna Þorbjörg Þorgrímsdóttir
1. Minutes of the 63rd meeting approved and signed.
2. Director's reportThe Chairperson reported on the work of the last meeting.
A new look for the Museum Council's website was launched on November 4th. Work is underway to fix the connections between the old and new website. The last bits of information are being trimmed off. www.safnastarf.is (Opens in a new browser window). The domain www.safnaráð.is (Opens in a new browser window) was secured as decided at the last meeting of the Museum Council. It was agreed that Ms. Rakel Halldórsdóttir be approached for oversight of the website.
Meeting on the export of archaeological finds. On November 13, there will be a meeting of representatives of the National Museum, the Archaeological Conservation Service, the Natural History Institute and the Museums Council. The procedure and implementation of licensing for the export of cultural relics will be discussed. The meeting will focus specifically on the export of excavated archaeological remains in light of the experience gained in issuing export permits. The aim of the meeting is to coordinate the procedures of the above-mentioned institutions and to examine possible ways to simplify the administration surrounding licensing.
The Accessibility for All consultation projectA national committee for the project has been appointed, working under the leadership of Bryndís Sverrisdóttir of the National Museum of Iceland.
The Reykjavík Botanical Garden returns a project grant for 2007 in the amount of 400,000. Director Eva Þorvaldsdóttir says the reason is that the estimated cost of the project, the creation of a summer flower museum, is greater than the allocated grant. It was not possible to finance the missing amount. The museum's policy assumes that construction will begin in the next four years.
It was decided at the last meeting of the Museum Council to produce a stamp with the Museum Council's logo. It is ready.
Following the decision of the Museum Council at its meeting on October 22, an application has been made for the Museum Council to join ICOM. No response has been received to the application.
The application deadline for the museum fund has passed. A number of applications have been received and processing will begin soon.
3. Summary of the Museum Council's working meeting on October 22nd. In connection with the Museum Act 106/2001, the articles of association of museums, the rules for allocating museum funds and the supervisory role of the Museum Council were discussed. There was discussion of increasing supervision of museum articles of association in accordance with Articles 4 and 10 of the Museum Act and of using the articles of association of museums as the basis for allocating funds from the Museum Fund. There was also discussion of increasing the emphasis in allocating funds on measurable factors such as the financial basis of museums for the future, the education/experience of museum directors, participation in research and museum collaboration. In this way, it is possible to better connect the allocation of museum funds with the supervisory role of the Museum Council. The supervisory role of the Museum Council with the import and export of cultural relics, which is based on Act No. 105/2001, was discussed with a view to simplifying the rules and more effective supervision. It is important that this be discussed with the institutions with which the Museum Council collaborates according to the law. The status of the Natural History Museum was discussed, what the Museums Council's support can consist of and what the next steps are. It was stated that the attendees are concerned about the status of the Natural History Museum and its potential for growth. It is necessary to open discussions with the Icelandic Institute of Natural History about the division of museum assets as stipulated in the law. It is important to ensure that the Icelandic Museum of Natural History passes undividedly to the Natural History Museum. Cultural tourism. With the growing activity of cultural tourism, the status of museums has changed. Museums are preservation and educational institutions and play an important role in society. In order to ensure that museums can cultivate this role, it is important to expand the institutions and encourage increased cooperation between museums. Museum finances, the education of museum staff and their retraining opportunities need to be strengthened.
4. Museum charters The Museum Council discussed the charters of museums and what elements they need to contain. The Committee was tasked with working on the matter, studying the legal requirements and continuing to work on proposals for the Museum Council's procedures regarding the approval of charters and ideas about what charters need to contain in order to meet the professional requirements of the Museum Council in accordance with Article 10 of the Museums Act and the definition of Article 4 of the Museums Act.
5. Responses from the Remuneration Committee to the Museum Council's inquiries have been received. It was decided that the Committee will prepare a response to the letter for the next meeting.
6. Message: Representatives of Seið ehf presented Hljóðvísi -Online Audio Guide. The company has developed a website intended to manage audio guides for museums, both domestically and internationally. The idea was presented to the Museum Council.
7. Next meeting and other matters.
The Museum Council's publishing issues. The Museum Council considers it important that the Museum Council's publishing issues be examined in their entirety. Decided to examine the collaboration between the Museum Council and the main museums on the publication of a joint museum strategy based on the Museum Strategy in the field of national heritage preservation for the years 2003-2008. The Ministry of Culture was tasked with examining the cost of designing a standardized layout for the Museum Council's published materials.
Teigarhorn. The Museum Council discussed the issue of Teigarhorn. The Museum Council believes it is important that institutions responsible for preserving the nation's cultural heritage work together.
The next council meeting will be held, in accordance with the meeting schedule, on Monday, December 13th, from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 16:45/AÞÞ