THE RULES OF
THE ASSOCIATION HAANDARBEJDETS FREMME

§ 1 The name and domicile of the Association
1.0 The name of the Association is “Haandarbejdets Fremme”.
1.1 The domicile of the Association is the municipality of Copenhagen.

§ 2 The aim of the Association
2.0 The aim of the Association is to encourage artistic handcraft by means of – for example – supporting the creative development of patterns and models, and by promoting knowledge of needlework, its techniques, art history and cultural history.
2.1 The Association operates through meetings and the publication of a magazine. The Association may also organize or participate in exhibitions, other publications or collaborate with other associations.

§ 3 Financial matters etc.
3.0 The capital and the financial ressources of the Association are raised through membership fees, public and private support and may also be raised from proceeds of meetings, courses, conferences and publications. A further income is obtained from licenses.
3.1 The profits may only be used for the promotion of the aim of the Association and must not be distributed among its members, not even in the case of the Association´s dissolution, cf. § 14.

§ 4 Liability
4.0 The Association is liable for all obligations agreed to by the Association according to its rules by means of all the assets of the Association, but there are no personal liabilities on the behalf of the board of the Association, its secretariat or its members.

§ 5 The general meeting
5.0 The general meeting is the highest authority of the Association in any respect.
5.1 The ordinary general meeting of the Association takes place every year before the end of May.
5.2 The general meeting is held alternately in Copenhagen and in the provinces.
5.3 The convening of general meeting must take place at least 14 days before the meeting is held, through the magazine of the Association or by means of a separate letter.
The announcement must include the agenda of the meeting and the revised annual accounts.
The agenda of the ordinary general meeting shall include the following:
1) The election of the chairman of the meeting.
2) The election of the rapporteur of the meeting.
3) Report of the board on the Association´s activities in the past year.
4) The revised accounts presented for approval.
5) Decisions concerning the balance sheet of the past year.
6) A presentation of present and next year´s budget.
7) Stipulation of the membership fee for the next year.
8) The election of members of the board.
9) The election of a 1. and 2. substitute to the board.
10) The election of the accountant.
11) Proposals submitted.
12) Other business.
5.4 An extraordinary general meeting shall be organized if the board or the accountant elected at the general meeting deems it appropriate, or if a request for such a meeting is signed by at least 50 members of the Association. The request must be presented in writing and it must specify the subject to be dealt with at the extraordinary general meeting. The convening of an extraordinary general meeting must be made within 14 days after the receipt of such a written demand and the time limit specified above for ordinary meetings applies.
5.5 Every member of the Association has the right to request a discussion of a subject at the general meetings or the extraordinary general meetings. Proposed subjects for discussion must be submitted to the board at least 8 days before the general meetings.
5.6 Every member has the right to participate in the general meeting when the membership fee of the current year has been paid.
5.7 Both the general meeting and the extraordinary general meeting is conducted by a chairman elected at the meeting, who has authority to decide in all matters regarding the order of discussion of the subjects, voting and the results of the vote.
5.8 The proceedings at the general meetings and the extraordinary general meetings must be reported in a written record, signed by the meeting´s chairman.
5.9 The vote will take place orally, unless one or more members or the chairman of the meeting demand a ballot.

§ 6 Voting
6.0 At the general meetings every member represents one vote.
6.1 In order to obtain the right to vote at a general meeting, the member must have paid the membership fee of the current year. The board will organize the necessary means of control in these matters.
6.2 Only personal attendance at the meeting will give a member the right to vote.
6.3 The chairman of the meeting shall inform about the number of members present with the right to vote.
At the general meeting all matters of discussion are decided by a simple majority of votes, unless other procedures have been established by the rules. Proposals regarding the change of the rules of the Association must however be presented either directly by the board or by at least 10 of the Association´s members. Amendments to the rules of the Association presented to the general meeting by the members of the Association must be submitted according to the rules of § 5 concerning proposals by the members. A decision regarding a change of the rules shall be taken by a majority of at least 2/3 of the members present.

§ 7 The leadership of the Association
7.0 The Association is led by a board of 7 to 9 members elected at the general meeting. The board constitutes itself with a chairman of the Association and an executive committee. In matters of discussion where the votes balance, the vote of the chairman will be decisive.
7.1 The members of the board are elected for 4 years and they will leave the board successively, so that 2 members leave the board every year according to an agreed rotation. The substitutes are elected for 2 years and they leave the board successively one by one. The members of the board and the substitutes may be re-elected.
7.2 If there is an extraordinary retirement from the board the substitutes elected at the general meeting will join the board instead.
7.3 The board decides the rules of procedure of its meetings.
7.4 The board is responsible as regards the proper financial conduct and the work in general of the Association.
7.5 The work of the board is done without any payment to the members of the board. However the Association will pay for travel expenses in Denmark.
As regards the daily activities of the Association, the board may employ staff for the secretariat. The payment for such necessary staff is decided by the board.
7.7 The duties of the board shall include the financial tasks, the publication of a magazine, the organization of the meetings and courses, exhibitions etc. The board is responsible for and shall monitor the collection of elder and more recent models belonging to the Association.

§ 8 Representation of the Association
8.0 The Association is represented officially by the whole board or by the chairman and two of the members of the board.

§9 Committees
9.0 The board may organize committees of members of the board or the Association or other persons to deal with matters of interest of the Association. The terms of reference of such committees are defined by the board.

§ 10 Development
10.0 The board decides on the tasks of developing new models and patterns to be promoted, cf. § 2.
10.1 The board establishes a judging committee for the artistic, professional and qualified evaluation of works sent to the Association. These works may be included in the collection of models of the Association if the artist agrees.
10.2 The board is responsible for the proper and qualified artistic level of new models in accordance with the aim of the Association.

§ 11 Course activities
11.0 The board may organize and maintain course activities, also in collaboration with other educational organizations.

§ 12 Members
12.0 Any person, institution, association etc. may be accepted as a member of the Association.
12.1 A membership requires the payment of a membership fee which is collected on January 1st every year.

§ 13 The dissolution of the Association
13.0 A dissolution of the Association will require a majority of 2/3 among the members of the Association.
13.1 If less than 2/3 of the Association`s members are present at the general meeting but the proposal is supported by a 2/3 majority vote, a second general meeting shall be convened where the proposal is adopted by a 2/3 majority of votes.
13.2 If the dissolution of the Association has been decided legally according to the rules in § 13.1, the board will elect a committee of not less than 3 persons. The task of the committee will be to present proposals for the dissolution of the Association, its obligations and means of capital, including the collection of embroideries.
13.3 The committee´s proposals for the dissolution will be dealt with at a final meeting of the members, led by a chairman of the meeting.
13.4 The capital and the embroidery collection of the Association may only be used or transferred to aims similar of those of the Association.

§ 14 The accounts and the auditing of the accounts
14.0 The accounts will be audíted by an authorized public accountant appointed for one year at the general meeting. Re-election may take place.
14.1 The financial year runs from the 1st of January to the 31st of December. However, the first year in the history of the Association extends only from the 5th of March 1996 to the 31st of December 1996.
14.2 The annual accounts shall present a true picture of the assets and liabilities of the Association, the financial situation and results, and must take into account the necessary depreciations and transferences.

The rules were adopted at the general meeting on March 5th 1996. Changes took place on November 2nd 1996,
April 5th 1997, March 14th 1998, April 24th 1999, April 21st 2001 and April 24th 2004.