Independent Board of Museums and Centres (OAMC)

In 1990 the Council of Tenerife created the Independent Board of Museums and Centres (Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros, OAMC). It has the same structure as an independent local-government body and is a legal entity in its own right; it has the legal capacity to act independently and undertake its own projects for the purposes of ensuring the successful development of museum policies.

The OAMC’s objectives include the study, cataloguing, protection and preservation of Tenerife’s cultural heritage and, by association, that of the Macaronesia region and other related geographical areas. Other objectives include promoting and raising the profile of culture, science and education.

The museums governed by the OAMC are:

• Museum of Nature and Humankind (MNH), which itself is made up of:
  • Tenerife Museum of Natural Sciences
  • Tenerife Archaeological Museum
  • Canary Islands Institute of Bio-Anthropology
• Museum of Science and Space (MCC)(MCC)
• Tenerife Museum of History and Anthropology (MHAT)
  • Casa Lercaro centre
  • Casa de Carta centre
  • Document Centre for the Canary Islands and the Americas

Functions

The general role of the OAMC is to exercise the legal authority granted to it by the Council of Tenerife in matters concerning museums.

This authority includes the provision of museum services to the public; research; promotion and preservation of its resources and collections; educational activities related to the protection of cultural and natural heritage; and the teaching and promotion of human knowledge.

To this end, the museums and centres governed by the OAMC gather, organise, document, investigate, promote, exhibit and preserve collections of artefacts that have historical, artistic, scientific, technical or any other kind of cultural value, for the purposes of study, education and contemplation.

Powers

To fulfil its objectives, the OAMC has been granted the following powers:

• To organise its services and dependants within the framework of current legislation and the Regulations on Organisation and Operation.
• To hire the staff required for exercising its functions.
• o sign public or private agreements and contracts relating to the acquisition and administration of fixed or moveable assets.
• To draw up collaboration agreements with public or private institutions at local, national and international level for the purposes of exchanging scientific information and materials that are related to the OAMC’s objectives.
• To seek and accept subsidies, grants and other aid from other public administrations and companies, national and international institutions, and private entities.
• To accept bequests, legacies and donations within the terms established by the general legislation for public administrations and specific legislation for local entities.
• To prepare, preserve and administrate its assets.
• To enter into binding contracts.
• To promote and exhibit any of its assets (including those that fall under its ownership and those ceded to it by the public administration) for the purposes of study, education and contemplation.
• To enter into any kind of legal or administrative action and to participate in, desist from or accept the decision of any process in which it may be involved, in accordance with general and local legislation.

Objectives and Activities

The OAMC exercises its powers for the following ends:

• To make available, study, analyse, protect, catalogue, enhance, restore, preserve and exhibit items that are part of the anthropological, archaeological, artistic, bio-anthropological, biological, bibliographic, scientific-documentary, cinematographic, ethnographic, ethnological, phonographic, photographic, historical, mineralogical, paleontological, technical or any other kind of heritage that is of universal scientific or cultural interest or of special interest to the Canary Islands archipelago, specifically Tenerife, the Macaronesia region and other related geographical areas.
• To encourage an awareness of traditional and popular culture and of contemporary creative capabilities, in addition to an awareness of the natural environment and biodiversity.
• To promote and raise the profile of education and culture in the fields of the humanities and science.
• To provide advice regarding the cultural and natural heritage of Tenerife, in accordance with the pertinent legislation.
• To provide scientific, technical and expert advice in the areas of activity related to museums and other centres.
• To promote, coordinate and protect the institutional development achieved through the efforts of the Council of Tenerife.

Contact and Information

• Independent Board of Museums and Centres
• Adress: Calle Fuente Morales, sin número, 38003. Santa Cruz de Tenerife
• Website: www.museosdetenerife.org