Minutes of the 85th meeting of the Museum Council
September 23, 2009, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM, The Local History Museum at Görður, Akranes.
The meeting was part of the Museum Council's 2009 field trip to Akranes and Borgarnes, which lasted from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM on the same day.
Present: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, chairman, Helgi Torfason, Sveinn Kristinsson, AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir. Alternates: Anna Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir, Georg Friðriksson, Eiríkur Páll Jörundsson. Rakel Halldórsdóttir, Ms. president. (Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Júlíana Gottskálksdóttir and Steinunn Ó. Kolbeinsdóttir announced their absence). See the field trip report in the attachment.
1. Comments on the minutes of the 84th meeting. The minutes will be approved and signed at the next meeting.
2. Report of the Managing Director.
Copy of the Ministry of Education's response letter regarding the 1627 History Center's submission to the ministry, requesting that the decision of the museum board regarding the Vestmannaeyjar Museum's grant application for the 2009 museum fund be reversedThe ministry's response states that the Museum Council's decision regarding the museum's grant application to the 2009 Museum Fund must be considered reasonable and in full compliance with the Museums Act and the Council's allocation rules. Museum copyright issues: Ministry of Education's response to the Museums Council's comments on Myndstef's new fee schedule for copyrighting visual worksDiscussion of the matter was postponed until the next meeting. Coventry Cathedral Glass. Following a suggestion to the National Museum, the Museum Council agreed to seek opinions on the import of the church glass in the first half of the 20th century. Opinions were sought from the National Gallery of Iceland, the Bishop of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland. A comment was received from the Bishop of Iceland stating that the relatives of Coventry Church in England are satisfied with the outcome of the case and thus the current location of the glass. Comments are still awaited from the National Gallery of Iceland and the National Museum. Discussion will continue at the next meeting. The Icelandic Museums and Artisans Association's mobile school, September 16th - 18th The field school will be in S-land, with its main location in Hvolsvöllur. At the field school, the Minister of Culture will present the changed emphases in the allocations from the Museum Fund 2010 in accordance with the decision of the 82nd Museum Council meeting on June 15th to increase project grants to museums at the expense of operating grants. The Minister of Culture will also present a new electronic application form for applications to the Museum Fund. The conference Innovation and Creative Work in the Hands of Young People, December 2-4 Rósa Gunnarsdóttir, Education Division of the Ministry of Education and Culture, has requested the cooperation of the Museum Council on the organization and implementation of museum presentations at the conference to be held by the Ministry of Education and Culture on the occasion of the Year of Innovation. It is likely that five museums will present presentations at the conference related to the implementation of the Museum Council's policy on the educational role of museums, which was published by the council in 2007. These are the National Museum of Iceland, the National Gallery of Iceland, the Reykjavík Art Museum, the Icelandic Design Museum and Hafnarborg (a collaborative project) and Gljúfrastein – the poet's house.
3. Museum Fund allocation rules revised. The Museum Council's procedures for monitoring the use of grants from the Museum Fund have been included in the draft of the Fund's allocation rules. Several comments were made to the draft. Submissions for monitoring the use of grants will be in electronic form (see next section). The revised allocation rules will be reviewed at the next meeting.
4. Electronic form for a summary of the use of grants from the museum fund. EC Software's bid for an electronic form for the Museum Council's monitoring of the use of grants from the Museum Fund was reviewed. The form will be comparable to the new electronic form for applications to the Museum Fund. The bid was accepted.
5. Improved guidelines for museum chartersA revised draft of improved guidelines for the charter of a museum was submitted. The guidelines were approved.
6. Distribution ticket for the export of cultural property. A proposal by a designer for a distribution label for the export of cultural property was submitted. Comments were made to the proposal. The Minister of Culture will forward the comments to the designer. The matter will be discussed further at the next meeting.
7. Ágústa Edwald's application for the export of cultural property from an archaeological excavation at Hornbrekka, Höfðaströnd. The Museum Council received an application from Ágústa Edwald requesting permission to export cultural property from an archaeological excavation at Hornbrekka, Höfðastrond. Comments have been requested from the National Museum of Iceland and the Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Authority. The Icelandic Archaeological Conservation Authority has no comments on the export. The National Museum of Iceland believes it is appropriate that the artifacts be pre-registered with the museum before export, to ensure monitoring. The applicant has been informed of the National Museum's comments. Discussion will continue at the next meeting.
8. The Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen's investigation, in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark in Iceland, into the export of cultural property for sale. Following the evaluation day of the Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen in Iceland, in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark in Iceland, the Embassy, on behalf of the auction house, has begun the search for permission from the owners of selected works to export cultural property for the purpose of sale at auction at the auction house abroad. The Museum Council has sought opinions from the National Museum of Iceland, the Art Museum of Iceland, the National Library of Iceland – University Library, the National Archives of Iceland and the Design Museum of Iceland. The Museum Council has been granted an inspection appointment at the Embassy of Denmark on 24 September at 10:00, where experts from the aforementioned review institutions will attend and inspect the artifacts that are planned to be exported from the country with regard to the provisions of Act No. 105/2001 on the export of cultural property from the country and on the return of cultural property to other countries. Discussion of the matter will continue at the next meeting.
9. Next meeting and other matters. The next meeting of the Museum Board according to the 2009 meeting schedule is October 29th, 3-5 p.m.
Other issues:
Planned relocation of the Museum Council office: The Museum Council's office is scheduled to move to the National Museum of Iceland, Setberg, around the turn of the year.
Executive Director on maternity leave: The CEO will go on maternity leave in March 2010. Work is underway to find a replacement for the CEO during the maternity leave.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM/RH.
(PDF file)Accompanying document