Minutes of the 80th meeting of the Museum Council
April 30, 2009, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Setberg, National Museum of Iceland
Present: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, chairman, Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Helgi Torfason, Sveinn Kristinsson, Eiríkur Páll Jörundsson and Rakel Halldórsdóttir.
1. The minutes of the 77th and 79th meetings were approved and signed.
2. Director's report. The Icelandic town withdraws its statement. Hannes Lárusson, representative of the Icelandic town, withdrew the institution's submission, but a request had been made for the museum council to assess the institution's eligibility for funding with regard to foundation grants according to Article 11 of the Museum Act No. 106/2001. Requested information regarding grants from the museum fund in 2009 has been received from most, or 10 out of 14, museums that were asked to submit additional information before the processing of operating grants could take place. Grants for the Continuing Education Course for Museum Professionals 2009Several museums have requested funding for the 2009 Continuing Education Course for Museum Staff, but funding for the course will be paid to museums upon application, according to a decision by the Museum Council at its 77th meeting on February 12, 2009. Structure of a master's program in museology at the University of Iceland. According to information from the University of Iceland, 10 people have registered for a master's degree program in museology for the fall of 2009. The Museum Council has worked on developing the program in recent years, and the Council's executive director has led a working group on the project. The University of Iceland will 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, but copyright legislation places considerable obstacles to the use of images from museums for educational purposes. HBR examined the status of the issue with Knút Bruun, chairman of Myndstef. Knútur wants to negotiate jointly with Icelandic museums. The Minister of Culture was instructed to examine the possibility of the Museum Council's involvement in the Copyright Council of the Ministry of Education and Culture and to request a meeting of the Council with the Copyright Committee. According to informal information from a representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture, it is likely that the Council will be allowed to nominate its representative to the Copyright 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 Museum Board's permit to export cultural property (permit dated September 5, 2008, valid until September 15, 2009). Comments have been requested from the Icelandic Archaeological Service and the curators of the National Museum of Iceland. Comments have been received. It was agreed to authorize an extension of the permit for export for one year.
3. Development of grants from the Museum Fund – Museum Fund allocation rules revised. In continuation of the decision of the last meeting, MH and RH had a meeting with Nikulás Úlfar Mássson, director of the State House Preservation Committee, and Guðmundur Magnússon, chairman of the Archaeological Fund. The possibility of harmonizing the allocation rules of the Museum Fund, the House Preservation Fund, and the Archaeological Fund was discussed in terms of the possibilities of parties that receive grants from the budget to receive grants from the funds. The Museum Council then reviewed the Council's allocation rules with regard to changes. The matter will be taken up again at the next meeting.
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.
5. Distribution card for the import and export of cultural property. Hildigunnur Gunnarsdóttir, designer, has made a proposal for the design of the distribution labels. The Museum Council's partners on the project are the Customs Directorate and the Icelandic UNESCO Committee. The proposal was reviewed and comments were made on it. Ms. stj. will continue to work on the matter.
6. Letter from Níels Hafstein, Museum of Icelandic History, regarding an allocation from the museum fund in 2009. The Museum Council received a letter to the Council representative (dated March 2, 2009) from Níels Hafstein, Director of the Museum of Svalbard, requesting an increase in the Museum's operating grant for 2009. 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 comply with 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 March 26, 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 awarded to the museum. The result of the legal examination of the Museum Council's allocation to the Museum, according to the Ministry's letter dated 20 April 2009, revealed that the Museum Council's procedures in deciding on grants for 2009 are in full accordance with Article 10 of the Museum Act and the Museum Fund's allocation rules. A response to the Museum was approved, in which the review of the grant is rejected with reference to the Ministry's conclusion. According to information from the Ministry of Education, the Museum has received 71,951,733 kr. in foundation grants from the State Treasury in the years 2005-2009. If the amount is extrapolated according to the price assumptions of the budget, it is 89,385,988 kr. In addition, the Museum has received 18,900,000 kr. operational and project contributions from the museum fund since 2002 (including the 2009 operating grant).
7. Museum Studies at the University of Iceland – conference on May 23rd A letter was received from Sigurjón B. Hafsteinsson, assistant professor of museology at the University of Iceland, requesting collaboration and funding from the museum fund to bring speakers to Iceland for a conference on museology on May 23rd. The Museum Council considered it impossible for the council to comply with the request for funding according to law, but confirmed professional collaboration on the conference, and the chairman and executive director of the council will both deliver presentations at the conference.
8. Issues of the Local History Museum in Göðar. The Museum Council received a letter from the acting mayor of Akranes, 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 rules of procedure for lending artifacts and a revised collection policy. Pursuant to the decision of the last meeting, the aforementioned drafts were referred to the directors of the main museums for further examination. The Museum Council then pointed out, pursuant to the decision of the last meeting, to the mayor of Akranes 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. The Museum Council received a letter from Akranes, dated 29 April 2009, requesting the Council's opinion on the draft agreement. The Museum Council agreed to seek opinions on the draft agreement from professional institutions and associations. Discussion of the matter will continue at the next meeting. SK did not participate in decisions on the matter.
9. Next meeting and other matters. The next meeting is scheduled according to the 2009 meeting schedule, on Wednesday, May 20th.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 17:00/RH