Minutes of the 65th meeting of the Museum Council, December 13, 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, Sveinn Kristinsson, Anna Þorbjörg Þorgrímsdóttir
1. Minutes of the 64th meeting approved and signed.
2. Director's report.
Rakel Halldórsdóttir, Ms. President of the Museums Council, has taken over the management of the Museums Council's website.
Design of a standard layout for the Icelandic Museums Council's publications. Bid from designer. (oral) The designer has submitted a bid for the work. The Museum Council agreed that the directorate should continue working on the matter.
Presentation of a letter to the Ministry of Education due to the Design Museum's charter, which was sent following the Museum Council meeting on October 22nd.
3. Export of cultural relics – archaeological finds. The results of a meeting between representatives of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, the Archaeological Conservation Service, the National Museum and the Museums Council on November 13th regarding the export of excavated artifacts were presented. The main results of the meeting were:
Animal bones found during archaeological research are considered antiquities and fall under the National Heritage Act. Responsibility for monitoring the export of antiquities lies with the Museums Council, the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency and the National Museum of Iceland. The opinion of the Institute of Natural History should be sought if there is suspicion that the remains of organisms found during archaeological excavations may have zoological or botanical significance. The export of excavated antiquities falls under Article 2, Section 14 of the Act on the Transfer of Cultural Property from the Country and on the Return of Cultural Property to Other Countries No. 105/2001. It is recommended that the Museums Council and the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency jointly formulate clear rules on responsibility and monitoring of the export of samples for research purposes and that the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency be entrusted with monitoring the export. It is recommended that the National Museum of Iceland, the Icelandic Antiquities Authority and the Museums Council jointly formulate rules for the granting of permits for the export of cultural property (antiques and exhibits) and that, among other things, clear rules apply regarding who can apply for such a permit and for how long.
The Museum Council approved the results of the meeting and instructed the Director General to continue working on the matter.
4. Museum charters. Continuation of discussions from previous meetings on the Museum Council's working rules for approving charters. The Museum Council's goal is that a museum's charter will be a formal confirmation that its activities comply with Articles 4 and 10 of the Museums Act and is thus eligible to receive grants from the Museum Fund. Confirmation of the charter will be a condition for granting grants in 2009. In parallel, the Museum Council will annually issue certificates to those museums that receive grants from the Museum Fund. The text of such a certificate was approved by the Museum Council and the Director General was tasked with having the certificate designed.
5. Remuneration Committee ResponsesThe Museum Council approved a draft letter to the Ministry of Education. It repeatedly requests information about payments to committee members in multi-member government and administrative committees similar to the Museum Council that operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.
6. Applications for the museum fund 2008. 57 applications were received by the Museum Fund for the year 2008. 47 applications for operating grants and 78 applications for project grants. The state budget for 2008 has not been approved. The Museum Council instructed the Chairman of the Board of Trustees to write a draft letter to the Chairman of the Budget Committee and point out that the budget item for museums in the 2008 budget does not reflect Articles 4 and 10 of the Museums Act.
7. EMYA 2009In accordance with the Museum Council's procedures, the Museum Council has requested proposals from the main museums, FÍSOS and ICOM regarding the possible nomination of a museum for the EMYA competition in 2009. At the meeting, it was stated that representatives of the three main museums and FÍSOS will not be making any proposals for 2009.
8. Message from Birgitta Spur, Director of the Sigurjón Ólafsson Art MuseumBirgitta requested a postponement of the use of the project grant for 2007. The Museum Council approved the request.
9. Message from Lilja Árnadóttir, Chair of the Icelandic Section of ICOMLilja is requesting a grant of 250,000 ISK from the Museum Council for the preparation of a CECA conference to be held in Iceland in 2009. The Museum Council agreed to award this grant to the Icelandic Section of ICOM.
10. Other issues:
Museum Council's museum policy. Decided that the Museum Council work on a single joint museum policy for the Museum Council and all the main museums. The Minister of Culture has been tasked with reviewing the matter. Continuing education funds. Discussion on continuing education opportunities for museum staff. The Museum Council considers continuing education or lifelong learning to be an important matter of interest. Planning issues. Guðrún Kristinsdóttir has drawn the Museum Council's attention to a loophole in the Planning and Building Act No. 73/1997 regarding building plots for museums. The Museum Council thanks her for the suggestion and recommends that Guðrún forward the suggestion to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, where new museum laws are currently being drafted. It was decided to extend the Museum Council's meeting time by 30 minutes from January 2008.
The next council meeting will be held, in accordance with the meeting schedule, on Monday, January 15th, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 16:45/AÞÞ