Saturday 30 June 2001
Barcelona, Spain

Minutes

- Appendix 1: List of participants

INTRODUCTION

Jacques Perot, President of ICOM, opened the session and thanked the members of the Executive Council and partners of ICOM for their presence. He said he was particularly happy to welcome members in Barcelona (Spain) on the occasion of the ICOM General Conference and felt it was important to review a number of topics.

0. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

The revised draft agenda for the 98th session was adopted with a slight change in the time.

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE 96th SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The minutes of the 97th Session were adopted with the following amendment: Point 6. Lucia Astudillo (Ecuador) indicated that it was not the town of Cuenca that was recently included in the World Heritage List.

2. INTERVENTIONS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF PARTNER ORGANISATIONS OF ICOM

2.1. Report of the ICOM Foundation

Christine Boël, President of the ICOM Foundation, reported that:

• The "ICOM Jewellery" programme was being continued, in collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux Français. Three new items of jewellery are planned for 2001.
• The Foundation transferred to the Museum of Phnom Penh all the funds raised through the sale of the publication "One Hundred Missing Objects - Looting in Angkor".
  
• The Foundation planned to collaborate again with the bookshop The Museums and Galleries Gift Collection (United Kingdom), especially the stationery section. This new programme may make it possible to earn income for ICOM programmes.
  
• The "Friends of the ICOM Foundation", the number of which rose from 17 in 1999 to 30 in 2000, paid the sum of 35,866.00 francs in 2000. Five new subscriptions and four new requests for membership were received for the year 2001.

Finally, the President announced that the Foundation contributed 9,000 US dollars as grants for the General Conference in Barcelona to enable ICOM members from countries in difficulty to attend.

The Executive Council thanked the President of the ICOM Foundation for the efforts accomplished and for its contribution to ICOM grants for the year 2001.

2.2. ICCROM Report

Nicolas Stanley Price, Director of ICCROM, said he was delighted to have an opportunity to address members of the ICOM Executive Council. It was the first time he was participating in a General Conference of ICOM in his capacity as Director of ICCROM. He reiterated the importance of collaboration between the two Organisations and the action taken by his institution all over the world. ICCROM now had one hundred member States. Nicolas Stanley Price also mentioned the close links with the International Conservation Committee (ICOM-CC). He added that the activities undertaken by ICOM were essential for the functioning of ICCROM. He hoped to have an opportunity in the course of this meeting to strengthen even further the relations between ICCROM and ICOM.

Jacques Perot thanked the Director of ICCROM and also mentioned the mutual support the two organisations could give to each other. He thanked ICCROM for the assistance given to ICOM-CC and gave his assurances that ICOM would work in close collaboration with ICCROM, especially in the area of "Risk Preparedness".

2.3. Report of the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM)

Carla Bossi-Comelli, President of WFFM, thanked Jacques Perot for inviting her to speak during this session. She informed members that WFFM will participate actively in the ICOM General Conference through a Round Table organised by the Federation on 2 July 2001, with the framework of the parallel sessions, centred on the theme "The Responsibility of Societies in the Functioning of Museums". The Round Table will seek to draw conclusions based on museum professionals and friends of museums. Three specific questions will be put to participants:

• How would you define the role of Friends of Museums within a museum institution facing the challenges of the 21st century?
• How can civil society take part in the changing management of museums?
• Do you think fund raising is a solution for making museums economically independent?

Experts and Friends of Museums from different regions have been invited to attend this Round Table. The President expressed the hope that it will provide a platform for useful discussions and that the audience will take part in the questions asked and react to the various views put forward by the speakers.

Carla Bossi-Comelli referred to the paper presented by one of the speakers that concluded by saying, "it would be regrettable if the museum management ignores the Friends of Museums, and if it neglects to encourage their support and to use them as a means to involve the community". The President said that this thought deserved close examination. She also hoped that this type of Round Table will be repeated during the WFFM Congress. She invited the President of ICOM to speak at the Round Table and asked whether ICOM could instigate and organise the next Round Table of this type.

Carla Bossi-Comelli informed members that the 11th Congress of WFFM would be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina) from 7 to 11 October 2002. The main theme will focus on "What is the Purpose of Friends of Museums?" Three sub-themes will be discussed:

• The Social Role of such Associations
• Museums as a Personal Learning Resource
• The Vision of the World

The President said that the meeting of the WFFM Council, as well as the General Assembly, had taken place the previous week in Porto and that a significant number of WFFM delegates were eager to attend the Conference in Barcelona.

She also announced the creation of an official WFFM site (http://www.museumsfriends.org). The next stage will be to establish a database of Friends of Museums associations all over the world, to meet a demand from the world of culture.

The President explained that the main concern was to improve the image of WFFM. It was not only a question of obtaining wider representation throughout the world but also of becoming a leading organisation in its field of action, by working closely with ICOM.

Jacques Perot thanked Carla Bossi-Comelli and said that ICOM was delighted to participate in the Round Table organised by WFFM. He said he was pleased that the two independent organisations were forging closer ties and encouraged members to attend the Round Table to be held on Monday, 2 July 2001.

2.4. Intervention of the Representative of the International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH)

Upon his request, Prof. Emanuele Anati, official representative of CIPSH, a non-governmental organisation that, like ICOM, enjoys formal relations with UNESCO, spoke on the importance of the conservation of documentation related to 'cultural memory'.

Jacques Perot thanked Emanuele Anati, also a long-time member of ICOM, for his contribution.

3. ORAL REPORT OF THE 61st SESSION OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Alissanda Cummins, Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, gave an oral report of this session. She raised the various questions discussed during the 61st session held on 29 June 2001 at the Conference Centre of Barcelona.

A minute's silence was observed in memory of ICOM members who had passed away recently.

Alissanda Cummins presented members with a report on the work of the Advisory Committee during the last three-year period.

Rafael Feria y Pérez, Chairperson of the General Conference, addressed members of the Advisory Committee. He welcomed all the members present and said he was happy to host the 19th General Conference of ICOM in Barcelona (Spain). He apologised for some of the minor problems encountered during the organisation of the meetings of the International Committees. He said that over 1,900 people had registered to participate in the Conference.

Alissanda Cummins said the Committee welcomed a number of new members with pleasure.

The minutes of the 60th session were adopted without any amendments.

The minutes of the Extraordinary Session of December 2000 were approved with the following amendment, requested by Peggy Loar (AMM-ICOM), to the English version, page 2, paragraph 2, 3rd paragraph: "Peggy Loar (AAM-ICOM) thanked the Chairperson Geoffrey Lewis and his Committee, and asked that a new presentation of the Code be envisaged, which would separate the ethical principals from the guiding principles and procedures."

The members of the Advisory Committee took due note of the minutes of the 96th Session of the Executive Council held in Paris (France) in June 2000 and of the draft minutes of the 97th Session of the Executive Council held in Paris (France) in December 2000, which had not yet been approved by the Council.

Alissandra Cummins reported that considerable work had been accomplished in order to submit a Strategic Plan for 2001-2007 to members of the General Assembly. As a result, the work of the Programme Committee will be different from that previous years, as it will have to review the Strategic Plan and submit comments to the General Assembly. The Programme Committee will be composed of three members from the Advisory Committee in addition to the two members of the Reform Task Force Group who are part of it.

Alissandra Cummins informed members of the Executive Council that the Committees of the General Conference will be composed as follows:

Board of the General Conference:

During the Advisory Committee meeting, Jacques Perot had briefly reported on the activities undertaken by the Organisation. He said he was pleased to have taken part in this session of the Advisory Committee and referred to the reform process that had been initiated two years earlier, as well as the intense efforts made by the Reform Group conducted so efficiently by Bernice Murphy. He mentioned the work carried out on the ICOM Code of Professional Ethics and paid tribute to Geoffrey Lewis, Chairperson of the Committee. He said the second stage would start during the three-year period 2001-2004, with the total revision of the Code.

Jacques Perot raised the question of the ".museum" initiative and expressed his satisfaction with the approval given by the Executive Council for this project carried out in close collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Trust. He hoped this new initiative would enable ICOM to strengthen its presence on the Internet and ensure a better visibility.

As for the fight against illicit traffic, the President referred to the recent publication of the fourth volume in the series "One Hundred Missing Objects" devoted to the theft of religious objects in four European countries: the Czech Republic, France, Hungary and Italy.

Jacques Perot had also mentioned ICOM's partnership with other institutions, such as UNESCO, the International Blue Shield Committee, and ICOMOS with which it had co-authored a press release in favour of cultural heritage in Afghanistan.

In the presence of all the members of the Advisory Committee, Jacques Perot solemnly thanked Piet Pouw, the outgoing Treasurer, and included the Secretary General and the Secretariat in expressing his gratitude.

Cary Karp had presented members of the Advisory Committee with a report on the implementation of the domain name ".museum". He reported that ICOM, together with the J. Paul Getty Trust, had established a new professional and non-profit organisation, MuseDoma, for the purposes of installing, maintaining and managing the new domain name ".museum", which will be placed at the service of the world museum community. He said that a stand for MuseDoma will be set up during the General Conference, where interested members can obtain an information file in order to proceed with advance registration. He referred to the meeting organised to discuss the implementation of this new domain name and invited all members to participate in it. A demonstration to show the interest of this new domain name will be organised for members.

Piet Pouw, Treasurer of ICOM, had submitted a number of financial documents to the members: the Balance Sheet for 2000, the Budget for 2002 and the Draft Budget for the triennial period 2001-2004.

Nancy Hushion, INTERCOM, in thanking the Treasurer and had reiterated her request that the budget for the year under way be presented in a comparative manner with previous years. A request had been submitted to the Secretary General to provide a clear explanation about investments. Nancy Hushion had also pointed out that the financial documents had been sent too late to members of the Advisory Committee.

Following a remark made by Nancy Hushion, Manus Brinkman informed the meeting that proposals concerning the Strategic Plan had been included in the draft triennial budget.

Alissandra Cummins reaffirmed the need to provide clear financial documents to the Advisory Committee. She warmly thanked Piet Pouw and congratulated him for his report, as well as his contribution to the sound and prudent management of ICOM's finances during the last two triennial periods.

Manus Brinkman, Secretary General of ICOM, briefly reported on the activities of the Secretariat, which will be presented to the General Assembly. He reminded members that additional information and details were available in the Report of Activities for the period 1998-2001 on http://www.icom.org/act_rep.html.

The Secretary General reviewed the proceedings of the workshop held in Hanoi (Vietnam) on the protection of cultural heritage in South East Asia, in partnership with ICOM-ASPAC. Some 80 museum and heritage professionals attended this workshop. The goal of the workshop was to focus on security and national legislation relating to the protection of cultural property in order to reinforce it if necessary, initiate stronger regional co-operation and develop educational policies and programmes to heighten public awareness on the illicit traffic of cultural property. Furthermore, ICOM had restructured its Web site and opted for a simple format that can be updated easily.

Bernice Murphy, Chairperson of the Reform Task Force, presented the report of her group. She described the work carried out since December 2000 and said that two documents, a summary of the recommendations and a "Tool Box", will be submitted to the General Assembly.

She briefly summarised the documents presented and indicated that the Task Force felt that ICOM should be open to young professionals, and therefore to students. Several recommendations had been made about the communication to be released on this issue. Furthermore, the role of the Advisory Committee had been reinforced in the documents in question. As for the proposed Nominations Committee, a number of members had expressed some anxiety about this matter. Bernice Murphy stated that this Committee would have to stimulate candidatures and ensure their high standard but it would not be able to turn down candidates. Members of the Advisory Committee took due note of the report made by Bernice Murphy.

Gary Edson, a member of the Ethics Committee, presented the report of the Working Group in the absence of its Chairperson, Geoffrey Lewis. He told members that following a meeting held in December 2000, a document had been sent to members and published on the ICOM Web site in order to receive as many comments as possible. The members of the Advisory Committee had asked that the Code be completely revised, reconsidered and rewritten. Alissandra Cummins said this proposal would be submitted to the Executive Council.

Jacques Perot, President of ICOM, presented the proposed amendments to the ICOM Statutes. He pointed out that they were only minor amendments, in accordance with the proposals of the Reform Task Force. He said other amendments would be introduced in 2004. The Advisory Committee requested the Secretary General to add the following phrase to article 2 (viii) of the Statutes to be put before the General Assembly: "living heritage and creative digital activity".

The Draft Strategic Plan for the years 2001-2007, presented at the meeting held in December 2000, and amended in accordance with comments made by members of the Advisory Committee, will be submitted for the approval of the General Assembly to be held on Friday, 6 July.

Martin Schärer, member of the Executive Council, explained to members why two reform groups had been set up, one for National Committees and the other for International Committees. He said that the National Committees were the lifeblood of the Organisation and that it was important to reform them, as well as the International Committees. The Executive Council had therefore decided to set up these two groups of nine members.

Peggy Loar (AAM-ICOM) asked that a person from one of these groups be assigned to study the positive and negative aspects of relations with national museum associations.

Shaje'a Tshiluila, Chairperson of AFRICOM, reported on the activities of the new professional, non-governmental organisation of museums in Africa, established in October 1999 in Lusaka (Zambia). She recalled the origin of AFRICOM and its main objective to examine the role and pertinence of museums for the African continent, as well as their development.

Jean-Marcel Humbert (AVICOM) presented the report of the Working Group on International Committees:

• Request for the creation of an International Committee on City Museums Jean-Marcel Humbert said this problem concerned a certain type of museum and that ICMAH was not in favour of setting up such a committee.
• Request for the creation of the "International Committee for Memorial Museums for Public Crimes against Humanity" The Working Group was in favour of this request but nevertheless recommended that the name of the Committee be carefully chosen.
• Request for the creation of an Affiliated Organisation, the "International Association of Museum Facilities Administrators (IAMFA)"

The Working Group encountered difficulties in translating the name of the Association in French. It asked for a complementary study to be carried out. In its opinion, the association was too small and too regional in nature, and therefore lacked an international dimension. It was not, for the moment, in favour of this request.

In addition, the Working Group recommended suspending the creation of any new Committee until the study recommended by the Reform Task Force was carried out.

The Advisory Committee studied the various requests in the light of the conclusions of the Working Group on International Committees and proposed the following solutions:

• Request for the creation of an International Committee on City Museums. The members decided to postpone the creation of such a committee and to study other possibilities.
• Request for the creation of the "International Committee for Memorial Museums for Public Crimes against Humanity". The members decided to submit this request to the Executive Council for consideration.
• Request for the creation of an Affiliated Organisation, the "International Association of Museum Facilities Administrators (IAMFA)". The members decided to postpone a decision on this request until the Reform Group on International Committees is set up.

As for the International Museums Day for 2002, the members of the Advisory Committee after considerable discussion chose to recommend the theme "Museums and Globalisation".

Giovanni Pinna (Italy) presented the last issue of MUSEUM International, together with a memorandum from the Editor-in-Chief, Isabelle Vinson. The speakers expressed their support for this review. It was suggested that the Committee or the General Assembly should draft a resolution on this issue.

Peggy Loar (AAM-ICOM) read out a paper on the unlawful appropriation of Jewish cultural property to be submitted to the Resolutions Committee.

Eloisa Zell, Chief of the Membership Service in the Secretariat with responsibility for electoral procedures, reminded Committee members of the Statutes concerning eligibility to vote during the General Assembly to be held on 6 July 2001.

The Chairperson of the Advisory Committee informed members of the Executive Council that she had been re-elected Chairperson of the Advisory Committee by acclamation for the period 2001-2004 following a vote by a show of hands. She thanked members of the Advisory Committee for their confidence in her.

The 62nd session of the Advisory Committee will be held on Friday, 6 July 2001 from 3.30 to 6 p.m.

Jacques Perot thanked Alissandra Cummins for her detailed report and said that some of the points raised should be settled by the Executive Council.

He added that the Nominations Committee will be set up by the Executive Council for the period 2001-2004, as well as the Reform Groups for the National and International Committees. The re-writing of the Code of Professional Ethics will be entrusted to the Ethics Committee, which should present a new version at the General Conference in 2004.

As for the recommended amendments to the Statutes, the Council adopted the proposals made by the Advisory Committee. In the case of article 21, the text will be changed but it was necessary to agree on a clear interpretation.

The Council also raised the question of the creation of new International Committees and an Affiliated Organisation and agreed to take the following decisions:

• Request for the creation of an International Committee on City Museums: The Executive Council decided to accept a provisional creation and requested the Committee to provide further information about its identity.
• Request for the creation of the "International Committee for Memorial Museums for Public Crimes against Humanity": the members of the Executive Council decided to approve the provisional creation of this Committee but requested the person responsible to revise the title of the Committee.
• Request for the creation of an Affiliated Organisation, "The International Association of Museum Facilities Administrators (IAMFA)": the members of the Executive Council decided not to accept this request for the moment.

As for the publication MUSEUM International, the Executive Council decided to send a letter to UNESCO advocating the continuation of this publication and asking whether ICOM could be associated in its reorganisation. Lucía Astudillo asked for this review to continue publishing its Spanish version.

4. ORAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARIAT ACTIVITIES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIENNIAL PROGRAMME

Manus Brinkman presented the Report of Activities of the Secretariat.

He announced that during the past triennial period, ICOM had further developed its role in the fight against the illicit traffic of cultural property. It was, in fact, one of the most important activities carried out in the last three-year period. Cultural tourism was also another major activity and it led to the organisation of a workshop in Trujillo (Peru) and La Paz (Bolivia) from 21 to 26 May 2000, in partnership with the National Committees of these countries. Yani Herreman, Vice Chairperson of the Executive Council, was responsible for the overall co-ordination of this workshop. The deliberations of the workshop were published in English and Spanish.

Manus Brinkman mentioned the importance of the International Committees and Regional Organisations. He explained that the Chairperson of ASPAC, Amareswar Galla, had collaborated efficiently in organising a workshop held in Hanoi (Vietnam) in April 2001. The aim of this workshop was to highlight the issue of security and national legislation relating to the protection of cultural property in order to strengthen it if necessary, initiate closer regional co-operation and develop educational and public awareness policies on the illicit traffic of cultural goods.

As for ICOM-Arab, in conformity with the wishes of professionals in the region, a workshop on museum management for young professionals was held in Aswan (Egypt) in the newly opened Museum of Nubia in April 2000. This workshop was organised in co-operation with the Salvage Nubia Fund of the Egyptian Council of Antiquities and the staff of the Museum of Nubia.

ICOM sponsored a number of activities within the framework of the International Blue Shield Committee, in particular, a seminar devoted to the people who intervene following armed conflicts. This seminar was organised with the support of UNESCO and the International Institute for Archival Science of Maribor (Slovenia). A special meeting of the International Blue Shield Committee was held in Strasbourg in April 2000 to define the concept, mission and organisational structure of the Committee.

Manus Brinkman also mentioned the partnership he intends to reinforce with ICCROM and AFRICOM, the new pan-African organisation of African museum professionals. In this regard, he congratulated Shaje'a Tshiluila, Chairperson of AFRICOM, for her work and energy in setting up this new Organisation.

Turning to UNESCO, Manus Brinkman announced that a framework agreement had been signed in order to support the activities of ICOM and its Information Centre, and to contribute to specific projects. Furthermore, special agreements had been signed within the context of the international campaign to set up a Museum of Nubia in Aswan (Egypt). The Executive Council of the Campaign declared it was satisfied with the standard of work carried out by ICOM and recommended that the first phase of training be completed by a second on-site training phase, in accordance with ICOM's proposal. Within this framework, UNESCO signed an additional contract with ICOM to implement an on-the-spot training programme for the museum staff. Between 1998 and 2000, three workshops were organised on general museology (for all the staff of the Museum of Nubia); documentation, recording and cataloguing (for part of the personnel); education by the museum (for part of the personnel); and preventive and curative conservation practices (for part of the personnel).

Manus Brinkman reminded members that the next General Conference will take place in Seoul (Korea) in October 2004 and that he would ensure that efficient preparations made it an unforgettable event.

Jacques Perot thanked Manus Brinkman for his report, as well as all the members of the Secretariat, and he congratulated them on their work.

5. FINANCIAL REPORT 1998-2001

Piet Pouw pointed out that the Financial Report covering the period 1998-2001 had already been approved by the Executive Council during a working session held on 28 June 2001.

In discussing the Advisory Committee session, Piet Pouw said he was very surprised by the comments made by the participants after he presented the financial documents. He referred to the good financial health of the Organisation and explained that the differences in interpretation were due more to the presentation than the actual financial management.

He also reminded members that in December 2000, the Executive Council had decided to defer the adoption of the triennial budget since the dollar exchange rate was not certain at that time. In April 2001, a meeting with Jacques Perot, Jack Dhennequin (auditor), Manus Brinkman and Sylvie Délice was held to discuss the best way to present the triennial budget to the General Assembly. Jack Dhennequin felt it was advisable not to change the structure of the budget too much at this stage. It was therefore agreed that it would be up to Financial Committee to decide on how to present the triennial budget in the future.

Piet Pouw explained that for each project ICOM prepared a programme for donors who receive a full and detailed report on completion of the programme. This too could be a matter for the Financial Committee to decide on the usefulness of detailed financial reports.

Alissandra Cummins pointed out that the members of the Advisory Committee had come to a decision on the presentation of the budget and not its content.

Bernice Murphy felt it would be useful to undertake an analysis of financial resources.

Cary Karp said that the triennial budget did not include an item on MuseDoma for the next three years. He added that a full-time person will be recruited to manage the ".museum" in Stockholm, and then an additional person at the ICOM headquarters in Paris.

The Executive Council decided to modify the draft triennial budget accordingly in order to reflect more accurately the commitment of MuseDoma and the Getty Trust, and to include a new budgetary item for MuseDoma. The sum of 500,000 francs was added for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Jacques Perot warmly thanked Piet Pouw for the work he had carried out in the past years. His prudence, precision and efficiency resulted in the healthy financial situation of the Organisation. His collaboration was precious and had guaranteed the effective and sound management of ICOM's finances.

6. CONCLUSIONS OF THE REFORM TASK FORCE

Bernice Murphy presented the Report of her Group. She described the work it had carried out since the month of December 2000. The results of this work were incorporated in two papers: a summary of the recommendations and a "Tool Box" for submission to the General Assembly.

Bernice Murphy thanked members of ICOM for their comments. Some of them suggested that training should be mentioned more than the fundamental values and mission of ICOM. Conservation is also part of this mission. She said that the mission of ICOM will be included in all publications and that it should become a sort of "creed" for ICOM. There was also a request to introduce the word "co-operation" and to emphasise the notion of an international "council of museums". Furthermore, members also felt that documents, such as the Statutes and the Code of Ethics, should be written in a simpler style.

The Task Force also felt that ICOM should be open to young professionals, and therefore to students. A series of recommendations were made on the communication to be released on this question.

The role of the Advisory Committee had been strengthened in the documents presented to the members. In the case of the Nominations Committee, a number of members had expressed some anxiety in this regard. Bernice Murphy said that this Committee would stimulate candidatures and ensure their high standard but it will not be able to turn down candidates.

The members of the Executive Council unanimously voted for a motion of thanks for Bernice Murphy and her Reform Group. Jacques Perot praised the energy and efficiency of the Chairperson of this Group in producing a working document, a "Tool Box" to serve as a working foundation for the Executive Council during the period 2001-2004.

7. REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUPS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Shaje'a Tshiluila, member of the Working Group on the Protection of Heritage in Danger, informed members that a three-part questionnaire had been sent to members of the Advisory Committee asking them about catastrophes (armed conflicts, natural disasters, catastrophes caused by human intervention). Each Committee was requested to appoint a correspondent in their country to inform the Secretariat of any conflict or disaster. Several National and International Committees and Affiliated Organisations had replied but unfortunately not enough to make direct use of the replies sent in. The questionnaire has been sent again to members.

Shaje'a Tshiluila announced that Christiane Logie (Belgium) was responsible for carrying out this task. She highly recommended collaboration with the International Blue Sheild Committee for the purposes of jointly determining a preventive policy on heritage in danger. She suggested that ICOM should intervene directly in the field in order to identify emergency situations.

Jacques Perot remarked that the main problem involved available resources and the way to take action. He said it was not always possible for ICOM to use its own networks to obtain the necessary information. He thanked Shaje'a Tshiluila and the members of her Group for the work accomplished to date.

Nicolas Stanley-Price suggested that ICCROM could also participate in the activities of the International Blue Shield Committee in view of the common points existing between the two Organisations.

Alissandra Cummins requested that members of the Advisory Committee be consulted in the context of activities carried out by the International Blue Shield Committee. She also emphasised the importance of preventive measures.

Yani Herreman wished to thank the Secretary General for having included pluridisciplinary projects in the Strategic Plan for the period 2001-2004. She congratulated Jennifer Thévenot and Cristiana Menegazzi for the publication on Cultural Tourism as well as the National Committee that had helped to organise this workshop.

Lucía Astudillo informed members that a big earthquake had occurred in Peru, seriously damaging 10% of the collections of museums in Arequipa. An appeal had been made to UNESCO but she also asked ICOM for assistance for this country in difficulty.

Jacques Perot asked the Chairperson of the Peruvian Committee to indicate in concrete terms how ICOM could help.

8. PROPOSALS OF THE SECRETARIAT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN 22001-2004

Jacques Perot said that the Strategic Plan for the period 2001-2004 will be submitted to the General Assembly for its approval on Friday, 6 July 2001. He suggested that discussions on the implementation of the Plan be postponed and submitted to the future Executive Council 2001-2004 in order to coincide with the handing over by the Secretary General of the Secretariat's work plan. The members present agreed to this decision.

9. REPORT BY CARY KARP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ".MUSEUM"

Cary Karp presented members of the Advisory Committee with a report on the introduction of the new domain name ".museum". He reminded members that ICOM and the J. Paul Getty Trust had jointly set up MuseDoma, a new non-profit, professional organisation, with the aim of instituting, maintaining and managing an Internet domain that will be at the service of the international museum community.

The administrators of MuseDoma are:

• Jacques Perot, President of ICOM
• Bernice Murphy, Vice-President of ICOM
• Kenneth Hamma, Deputy Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum
• Deborah Gribbon, Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum

The officials are:

• Cary Karp, President (Director of Internet Strategy and Technology for ICOM)
• Manus Brinkman, Secretary (Secretary General of ICOM)
• Steven Juarez, Treasurer (Director of Financial Management, The J. Paul Getty Trust)

He said that a MuseDoma stand will be set up during the General Conference, where interested members can obtain an information file for pre-registration. He added that a meeting will be held during the week to discuss the introduction of the new domain name and invited members to attend. A demonstration showing the interest of this new domain name will be organised for members.

Jacques Perot thanked Cary Karp for his work, on behalf of all the members of the Executive Council.

10. REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE ETHICS COMMITTEE

Geoffrey Lewis, Chairperson of this Committee, made a brief intervention in order to remind members that the document drawn up by the Ethics Committee had been submitted to the Advisory Committee. It was also included among the documents for members of the Executive Council. The Chairperson announced that the document would be submitted to all participants in the General Assembly on Friday, 6 July 2001. He said three late requests had reached him but that it was too late to incorporate them in the final document. These requests will be studied later and taken into account in future discussions by the Committee.

He added that ICMAH and INTERCOM had discussed ethical problems during their working session. The conclusions of these sessions could also be useful to the Ethics Committee. The Chairperson of the Committee announced that a meeting on acquisitions policies will be organised within the framework of the General Conference, and he invited all members to participate.

In the name of all members of the Executive Council, Jacques Perot thanked Geoffrey Lewis and the Committee members for their work on revising the Code.

11. EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

Manus Brinkman stressed the difficulties of countries to communicate with the outside world in the event of natural disasters. He recalled the case of Turkey, a country that he had tried to contact in vain to obtain information on the national heritage situation.

He said that a press release has been written jointly with ICOMOS about Afghanistan. Several measures had been taken. Discussions were held with UNESCO in order to find out what ICOM could do about lost objects and where to store them in the event of restitution. Manus Brinkman also said that an awareness-raising and disaster prevention project had been included in the Strategic Plan for 2001-2007.

Alissandra Cummins asked if this project could also concentrate on young people to make them aware of this problem.

Jacques Perot said that the general public should also be made aware of the problem of disasters and the threat to cultural heritage.

12. ACTION BY ICOM TO RETURN ART WORKS LOOTED OR STOLEN DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Jacques Perot reminded members that on 12 January 1999, ICOM had issued a press release on the question of Jewish property unlawfully confiscated during the Second World War, which may now be in museums or public collections. In this press release, the Executive Council had requested museum professionals all over the world to identify, search for, and return objects to their original owners under legal conditions. In June 1999, Peggy Loar, Chairperson of the American National Committee (AAM/ICOM) had submitted to members of the Advisory Committee a report on the meeting held in Washington D.C. from 30 November to 3 December 1998 (99/AD.06 point 5). Another important meeting was held in Vilnuis in October 2000. The Vilnuis Forum Declaration was released after this meeting. In April 2001, other international principles were included in the Guidelines Concerning the Unlawful Appropriation of Objects during the Nazi Era, drawn up by the American Association of Museums.

The American National Committee now wishes to submit a resolution on this matter for adoption by the General Assembly on Friday, 6 July 2001. Gary Edson (USA) underlined the importance of such a resolution, its objective being to encourage museums to press their governments into recognising and implementing the international principles mentioned in the above-mentioned documents.

Jacques Perot suggested that this important resolution be submitted to the ad hoc Committee and invited anyone who wished to make suggestions on this resolution to contact the Resolutions Committee set up for the General Conference.

13. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEES

Eloisa Zell presented her report to members of the Executive Council.

13.1. National Committees

13.1.1. New National Committees

Two new National Committees were set up, in accordance with the ICOM Statutes, one in Jamaica and the other in Nepal. Eloisa Zell said that the Nepalese National Committee consisted of four individual members which also receive a subsidy and one institutional member.

The Executive Council decided to approve the official creation of these two Committees. ICOM now has 108 active National Committees.

13.1.2. Reorganised Committees

The National Committee of Zambia and the National Committee of Zimbabwe, which had been reorganised during the year 2000, have sorted out their difficulties and can now be considered as active.

The Executive Council decided to approve the re-establishment of these two Committees.

13.1.3. ICOM Funds

Eloisa Zell informed members that the total Funds amounted to 26,613.73 French francs on 21 June 2001.

The Secretariat had recently received a contribution of ? 770 (5,050.87 French francs) from the Swiss National Committee. This Committee had previously indicated that it wanted its donation to be allocated to the individual members of Mali. The sum sent to this Committee will therefore be given to the individual members of Mali for the year 2001.

13.1.4. Fees for 2002

The Executive Council decided to approve an increase of 3% in the fees for the year 2002 in each category. It also approved the document signed by the Treasurer indicating the fees in Euros and US dollars.

13.2. International Committees and Affiliated Organisations

A decision was made on the three requests submitted to the Executive Council (cf. beginning of the minutes, para 3).

Jacques Perot thanked Eloisa Zell for her report and the work she carried out at the service of the members.

14. INTERVENTION BY THE PRESIDENT OF ICOM

Jacques Perot closed the session with a certain sadness for it was the last working session of the Executive Council covering the period 1998-2001, elected in Melbourne (Australia) in 1998. All of its members had accomplished useful work during these three years. He had found the work to be very interesting, and had been surrounded by people with great capacities, a place of stimulating exchanges and thoughts on what a major organisation like ICOM should achieve.

The President turned to three members who will not be candidates for the Executive Council 2001-2004: Piet Pouw, Shaje'a Tshiluila and Michel Côté. He wished to thank them for their contribution. Jacques Perot reminded members that Piet Pouw had served as Treasurer for six years. Thanks to his prudent management, ICOM was now in a healthy financial position. He had proved to be very efficient and capable.

Shaje'a Tshiluila and Michel Côté did not wish to renew their candidatures as they had other pressing commitments during the next triennial period. The Chairperson hoped that ties would be maintained with AFRICOM, the recently created Pan-African organisation. He said that Michel Côté would be very busy with the creation of a new museum and wished him success in this large-scale project.

Jacques Perot said that the triennial period 2001-2004 would be an important turning point in the life of ICOM.

In the name of the members of the Executive Council, Lucía Astudillo thanked Jacques Perot for his work and presidency during the past three years.

15. DATE AND PLACE OF THE FORTHCOMING EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETINGS

99th session: working session
Friday, 6 July 2001, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

100th session
Monday, 3 December and Tuesday, 4 December, Room 16, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris (France)

101st session
Thursday, 6 June and Friday, 7 June, Room 16, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris (France)

(Original: French)