Moderna Museet's Qatar trip violates ICOM ethical rules

"Just because something is possible does not make it appropriate," the museum organization's board wrote in a statement to Magasin K.

The ethical rules are a minimum standard for how museum employees should behave. The rules state, among other things, that museum employees may not accept services, gifts or personal benefits offered in the course of their work.

"We take seriously the fact that a government agency and a high-profile museum like Moderna Museet have failed to respect the ethical rules," the board writes.

Last autumn, Moderna Museet's chief curator Gitte Ørskou was invited on a trip to Qatar by the emir's sister, Princess Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.