Minutes of the 79th meeting of the Museum Council
April 2, 2009, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Setberg, National Museum of Iceland
Present: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, chairman, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Helgi Torfason, Sveinn Kristinsson, AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. The minutes of the 76th and 78th meetings were approved and signed. A minor comment was made to the minutes of the 77th meeting and they will be approved and signed at the next meeting of the Council.
2. Director's report. Allocation from the museum fund 2009. The allocation from the museum fund in 2009 was reviewed and a letter regarding the processing of applications was presented. Reactions to the allocation were reviewed, such as discussions on the Museum List following the allocation and letters from the Museum. Grants for the Continuing Education Course for Museum Professionals 2009The Museum Council has announced the grants for the course, which will be paid to museums according to the Council's decision at its 77th meeting on February 12, 2009. Application for the export of cultural property. The Museum Council received an application from Guðrún Sveinbjarnardóttir, requesting permission to temporarily export fragments of a chalk pipe from the archaeological excavation in Reykholt to London, England for research purposes. Comments were sought from the Icelandic Archaeological Service and the curators of the National Museum of Iceland. Both comments were positive. Export according to the application was authorized. The Museum Council received requests for comments from the Althingi Business Committee. to a bill on works of art owned by Landsbanki Íslands, Kaupthing and Glitnir and a proposal for a parliamentary resolution on changes in the ownership and preservation of works of art owned by the state banks. The Museum Council provided comments on both proposals. Committee fees for representatives of interest groups on the museum council. Representatives of interest groups on the museum council (representatives of the Association of Icelandic Museums and Collectors and representatives of the Association of Icelandic Local Authorities) receive a committee fee for their membership on the council. According to information from the Ministry of Education, committee fees are to be paid for the meetings of the representatives from May 2007 to December 2008. Representatives of the main museums (National Museum of Iceland, National Gallery of Iceland and Natural History Museum of Iceland) are statutory representatives on the council and are therefore not entitled to committee fees for their membership. Distribution card for the import and export of cultural property. Hildigunnur Gunnarsdóttir, designer, is working on the distribution labels. The Museum Council's partners on the project are the Directorate of Customs and the Icelandic UNESCO Committee. Structure of a master's program in museology at the University of Iceland. Sigurjón B. Hafsteinsson was appointed assistant professor of museology in January 2009. He has largely taken over the work of preparing the program from a working group on the project, which was led by the director of the Museums Council. The program has been introduced and a brochure has been prepared and distributed to museums around the country. The University of Iceland plans to hold a conference to introduce the program on May 23rd. Copyright issues of collections. The poor state of copyright issues in the field of museum work was discussed, as copyright legislation places considerable obstacles to the use of images from museums for educational purposes. HBR will examine the situation in more detail with Knút Bruun, chairman of the Icelandic Museum Council. The Minister of Culture was instructed to examine the possibility of the Museum Council's involvement in the Copyright Council and to request a meeting of the Council with the Copyright Committee. HERITAGE AGENT. The Museum Council is a partner in the ERANET project HERITAGENET, which is managed by the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Agency on behalf of Iceland. Other partners are RANNÍS, the House Preservation Committee and the Ministry of Education. This is a pan-European research project that aims to form networks, share knowledge and promote success in the protection of cultural heritage (tangible heritage). MH and RH have served on a working group on the project on behalf of the Museum Council. Request for extension of permit for export of cultural property. A letter has been received from John M. Steinberg, University of Massachusetts, Boston, requesting an extension of the Museums Council's permit to export cultural property (permit dated 5 September 2008, valid until 15 September 2009). Comments have been requested from the Icelandic Archaeological Service and the curators of the National Museum of Iceland. Comments have not been received.
3. Development of grants from the museum fund. MH and RH had a meeting with Eiríkur Þorláksson and Karítas Gunnarsdóttir, Ministry of Education, where the policy for developing grants from the Museum Fund was discussed. The Museum Council believes that it is natural that grants from the Fund will be in accordance with the provisions of the upcoming Museum Act, which reflects the policy of the Ministry of Education. All parties considered it important to emphasize the provisions of the Museum Act that stipulate the condition that a museum has a secured financial basis without the involvement of a museum fund. The discussion also focused on state grants to museums in general and ways to increase equality in this regard. The Museum Council will propose uniform allocation rules for the House Preservation Fund and the Archaeological Remains Fund in this regard.
4. Administrative audit of state budget allocations to non-state-owned museums and artefacts. Following the request of the Museum Council for an examination by the National Audit Office of the budget allocations for museum affairs in the budget (cf. minutes of the 73rd Museum Council meeting, 1 September 2008), the National Audit Office has begun an administrative audit of state budget allocations to institutions engaged in museum work, which are not owned by the state. The Minister of Finance and the Chairman have met with representatives of the National Audit Office at meetings and provided detailed information on the matter. The Museum Council welcomes this milestone and considers it an important step towards professional criteria being increasingly applied in decisions on state budget allocations for museum affairs. The Council has considered that too large a share of funds for museum affairs are being allocated by-passing the Museum Council/Museum Fund, without emphasis on professional discussion, prioritization and monitoring. Following the discussion, the importance of monitoring allocations was discussed and it was agreed to draft a checklist in consultation with the National Audit Office to facilitate the Council's implementation of such monitoring.
5. Grants 2009 – requested information. According to the decision of the Museum Council, the disbursement of grants from the museum fund to 14 of the 54 museums was conditional on the museum sending the council more detailed information about a certain aspect of its activities. The requested information has been received from 10 of the 14 museums.
6. Conference organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture: Innovation and creative work in the hands of young people. The Museum Council received a request from Rósa Gunnarsdóttir, an innovation specialist in the education sector of the Ministry of Education and Culture, requesting collaboration on a pan-Nordic conference on Innovation and Creative Work in the Hands of Young People on the occasion of the European Year of Innovation and Creativity 2009. The conference will be held 2-4 December 2009. Rósa requests that the Museum Council organize presentations from museums presenting their educational work in continuation of the development of a joint museum policy on educational issues in museums, ?Education for All?, which was published by the Museum Council in 2007. The Museum Council welcomed this step towards a closer connection between the traditional education system and the non-traditional one, of which the museums are considered a part, and agreed to collaborate on the conference. The implementation was entrusted to Ms.
7. Letter from Níels Hafstein, Museum of Icelandic History, regarding allocation from the museum fund 2009. The Museum Council received a letter to the Council representative (dated 2 March 2009) from Níels Hafstein, Director of the Museum of the Svalbard Islands, requesting an increase in the operating grant for 2009 for the Museum of the Svalbard Islands. The Museum received 1.6 million ISK in operating grants from the fund in 2009, or a 50% increase from the previous year. The disbursement of the operating grant was conditional on the Museum Council receiving further information on salaries for professional museum work, but the museum did not fall under the Museum Council's previously announced calculation method for calculating the amount of operating grants. The Museum Council also received requested information from the museum (according to a letter dated 26 March 2009) as well as a notification of the museum's request for a legal review by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the grant to the museum. Discussions took place on the content of the letters. The representatives of the Museum Council expressed their surprise at the comments in the letters and the inappropriate, personal insults towards the representatives of the Council. The Museum Council awaits the outcome of the Ministry of Education's legal review of the allocation to the Museum of Icelandic Art. It was agreed to request further information about the museum's finances with reference to the Museum Council's supervisory role according to Article 3 of the Museums Act and also with reference to Article 12 of the Act, due to the correspondent's claims about the museum's imminent bankruptcy.
8. The Icelandic Village – request for an assessment according to Article 11 of the Museums Act. The Icelandic Town's submission requesting an assessment pursuant to Article 11 of the Museums Act was discussed. It is clear that the institution, which is under construction, does not meet the requirements for an assessment pursuant to Article 11 as it stands today. Discussion of the matter will continue at the next meeting.
9. Issues of the Local History Museum in Göðar. The Museum Council received a letter from the acting mayor of Akranes City announcing a planned change in the operation of the museum by outsourcing its operations and activities. Comments are also requested on the museum's draft procedures for lending artifacts and a revised collection policy. The aforementioned drafts were referred to the directors of the main museums for further consideration. It was agreed to point out to the acting mayor of Akranes City that it would be natural to seek the opinion of the Museum Council and the Ministry of Education on the content of the draft agreements. Furthermore, the general rule regarding the tendering of extensive projects by public entities will be pointed out. Discussion of the matter will continue at the next meeting. SK did not participate in the handling of the matter.
10. Next meeting and other mattersThe next meeting is scheduled according to the 2009 meeting schedule, Thursday, April 30th.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 17:00/RH