EMYA has proved to be the longest running and most prestigious museum award in Europe and provides an important platform for benchmarking, networking, exchange of reflections, experience and skills across the wider continent of Europe.
The annual EMYA competition has been ongoing and continuous since 1977. It is estimated that more than 1900 museums have been candidates for the scheme and visited by EMYA judges, and that around 400 awards have been given to museums in 36 countries.
An average of around 45 museums apply each year, from across the 46 CoE member countries, with winners distributed across museums of all types, scales, disciplines and locations. 2020 set the record with 61 candidates.
Museum candidates are either new museums, first opened to the public within the past three years, or established museums that have renewed their organization and completed a substantial programme of modernization and extension of their buildings and galleries.
Over the years the EMYA scheme has developed into a series of different awards, each with their own specific profile.
The European Museum of the Year Award
The European Museum of the Year Award
As the museum sectors expand across Europe, and as the value and meaning of culture for citizenship, political empowerment and general wellbeing are increasingly recognized, the quality of each museum and its contributions to its society and communities becomes correspondingly significant. The European Museum of the Year Award has been given out every year since 1977, and represents the best in innovation and excellence, in new or redeveloped museums, across disciplines and scale, funding and obligations, and across the various cultural contexts of Europe.
The EMYA goes to a museum which contributes profoundly to our understanding of the world as well as to the development of new paradigms and professional standards in museums. Within a distinctive overall atmosphere, the winning museum shows creative and imaginative approaches to the production of knowledge, to interpretation, presentation and social responsibility - all from a transparent base of core values of democracy, human rights, and inter-cultural dialogue, a commitment to sustainability, a practice of inclusion and community participation, and a recognition of conflicts and the courage needed to confront them.
Winners
2023 - L'Etno, Valencian Museum of Ethnology (Valencia, Spain)
For more information:
https://letno.dival.es/ca
EMYA2023 Winners Brochure
2022 - Museum of the Mind | Dolhuys (Haarlem, Netherlands)
EMYA2022 Winners Brochure
2021 - Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, Netherlands)
2020 - Stapferhaus (Lenzburg, Switzerland)
Read more: COMING SOON
2019 - Rijksmuseum Boerhaave (Leiden, Netherlands)
2018 - The Design Museum (London, United Kingdom)
2017 - Meg – Museum of Ethnography (Geneva, Switzerland)
2016 - Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Warsaw, Poland)
2015 - Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
2014 - The Museum of Innocence (Istanbul, Turkey)
2013 - Riverside Museum: Scotland’s Museum of Transport and Travel (Glasgow, United Kingdom)
2012 - Madinat al-Zahra Museum (Cordoba, Spain)
2011 - Gallo-Roman Museum (Tongeren, Belgium)
2010 - Ozeaneum (Stralsund, Germany)
2009 - Salzburg Museum (Salzburg, Austria)
2008 - Kumu Art Museum (Tallinn, Estonia)
2007 - German Emigration Center (Bremerhaven, Germany)
2006 - CosmoCaixa (Barcelona, Spain)
2005 - The National Heritage Museum (Arnhem, Netherlands)
2004 - MARQ - Archaeological Museum of Alicante (Alicante, Spain)
2003 - Victoria and Albert Museum: British Galleries (London, United Kingdom)
2002 - Chester Beatty Library (Dublin, Ireland)
2001 - National Railway Museum (York, United Kingdom)
2000 - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (Bilbao, Spain)
1999 - Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer (Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
1998 - The Conservation Centre (Liverpool, United Kingdom)
1997 - Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara, Turkey)
1996 - Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Bucharest, Romania)
1995 - The Olympic Museum (Lausanne, Switzerland)
1994 - National Museum of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark)
1993 - Alta Museum (Alta, Norway)
1992 - State Museum of Technology and Work (Mannheim, Germany)
1991 - Leventis Museum of Nicosia (Nicosia, Cyprus)
1990 - Ecomuseum of the Fourmies-Trélon Region (Fourmies, France)
1989 - Sundsvall Museum (Sundsvall, Sweden)
1988 - Brandts Klaedefabrik (Odense, Denmark)
1987 - Beamish: North of England Open Air Museum (Stanley, United Kingdom)
1984 - Zuiderzee Museum (Enkhuizen, Netherlands)
1983 - Regional Museum (Museum Sarganserland) (Sargans, Switzerland)
1982 - Museum of Art and History (Saint-Denis, France)
1981 - Folk Art Museum (Nafplion, Greece)
1980 - Catharine Convent State Museum (Utrecht, Netherlands)
1979 - Museum of the Camargue (Arles, France)
1978 - Schloss Rheydt Municipal Museum (Mönchengladbach, Germany)
1977 - Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (Ironbridge, United Kingdom)
The Council of Europe Museum Prize
The Council of Europe Museum Prize
Within the rich economic, social and cultural diversity of its 46 member states, the Council of Europe focuses on safeguarding and promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe Museum Prize has been awarded annually since 1977, by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, based on the recommendations of the EMYA jury.
The Council of Europe Museum Prize is awarded to a museum that has contributed significantly to upholding human rights and democratic citizenship, to broadening knowledge and understanding of contemporary societal issues, and to bridging cultures by encouraging inter-cultural dialogue or overcoming social and political borders. The Prize aims to highlight Europe’s diverse cultural heritage and the interplay between local and European identities.
Winners
2024 - Sybir Memorial Museum (Białystok, Poland)
sybir.bialystok.pl/en/the-museum/
2023 - The Workers Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Assembly hall: The main assembly hall is the heart of the Workers' Assembly building from 1879 and is now completely renovated.
For more information:
www.arbejdermuseet.dk/en/
EMYA2023 Winners Brochure
read more
2022 - Nano Nagle Place (Cork, Ireland)
For more information:
www.nanonagleplace.ie/
2021 - GULAG History Museum (Moscow, Russia)
2020 - National Museum of Secret Surveillance "House of Leaves" (Tirana, Albania)
2019 - Museum of Communication (Bern, Switzerland)
2018 - War Childhood Museum (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2017 - Caribbean Centre of Expressions and Memory of the Slave Trade and Slavery (Guadeloupe, France)
2016 - The European Solidarity Centre (Gdańsk, Poland)
2015 - MUCEM (Marseille, France)
2014 - Baksı Müzesi (Bayburt, Turkey)
2013 - Museum of Liverpool (Liverpool, United-Kingdom)
2012 - Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (Cologne, Germany)
2010 - Portimão Museum (Algarve, Portugal)
2009 - Zeeuws Museum (Middelburg, Netherlands)
2008 - Svalbard Museum (Longyearbyen, Norway)
2007 - International Museum of the Reformation (Geneva, Switzerland)
2006 - Churchill Museum (London, United Kingdom)
2005 - Museum of Byzantine Culture (Thessaloniki, Greece)
2004 - Museum of Health Care (Edirne, Turkey)
2003 - Latenium (Hauterive, Switzerland)
2002 - Buddenbrookhaus (Lübeck, Germany)
2001 - Helsinki Theatre Museum (Helsinki, Finland)
2000 - In Flanders Fields (Ieper/Ypres, Belgium)
1999 - Palais des beaux Arts (Lille, France)
1998 - Museum Centre on Strelka (Krasnoyarsk, Russia)
1997 - Children's Museum, Tropical Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
1996 - MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna, Austria)
1995 - House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bonn, Germany)
1994 - Provincial Museum of Lapland (Rovaniemi, Finland)
1993 - Kobarid Museum (Kobarid, Slovenia)
1993 - Archaeological Museum of Istanbul (Istanbul, Turkey)
1992 - Argenta Marsh Museum (Argenta, Italy)
1991 - German Salt Museum (Lüneburg, Germany)
1990 - Manuel da Maia Museum of Water (Lisbon, Portugal)
1989 - Jewish Historical Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
1988 - The Bavarian National Museum (Munich, Germany)
1988 - Museum of the Convent of Descalzas Reales (Madrid, Spain)
1987 - Heimatmuseum-Neukölln Museum (Berlin, Germany)
1984 - Living Museum of the Canal du Centre (Thieu, Belgium)
1984 - The Boat Museum (Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom)
1983 - Joanneum - The Provincial Museum of Styria (Graz, Austria)
1982 - Åland Museum (Mariehamn, Finland)
1981 - Music Museum (Stockholm, Sweden)
1980 - Monaghan County Museum (Monaghan, Ireland)
1979 - Municipal Museum (Rüsselsheim, Germany)
1978 - Bryggens Museum (Bergen, Norway)
1977 - Joan Miró Foundation (Barcelona, Spain)
Click here for more information
The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity
The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity
As societies are increasingly openly conflicted, politicized and polarized, the obligations grow correspondingly for museums to challenge established truths and mainstream positions, to defy power, to insist on accountability, and take transparent and ethical stands - not least pertaining to issues of social justice - that give space for or voice to contested and silenced stories.
The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity is named in honour of the irreverent and critical perspective of Kenneth Hudson, the founder of EMYA, and is given by the European Museum Forum board to a museum, a group or an individual – not necessarily an EMYA candidate - to celebrate courageous, at times controversial, museum practices that challenge and expand common perceptions of the role and responsibilities of museums in society.
Winners
2023 - 23,5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory (Istanbul, Türkiye)
hrantdink.org/en/site-of-memory
emya2023winners.europeanforum.museum
2022 - Wayne Modest, Nanette Snoep, Laura van Broekhoven and Léontine Meijer-van Mensch
For more information:
emya2022winners.europeanforum.museum
2021 - CosmoCaixa (Barcelona, Spain)
2020 - House of Austrian History (Vienna, Austria)
For more information:
hdgoe.at
link to the dedicated news coming soon
2019 - World Museum Vienna (Vienna, Austria)
2018 - Estonian National Museum (Tartu, Estonia)
2017 - Museum of the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin (Yekaterinburg, Russia)
2016 - Micropia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2015 - International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum (Geneva, Switzerland)
2014 - Zanis Lipke Memorial (Riga, Latvia)
2013 - Batalha Municipal Community Museum (Batalha, Portugal)
2012 - Glasnevin Museum (Dublin, Ireland)
2011 - Museum of Broken Relationships (Zagreb, Croatia)
2010 - Museum of Contraception and Abortion (Vienna, Austria)
The Silletto Prize for Community Participation and Engagement
The Silletto Prize for Community Participation and Engagement
As the quest for democratic involvement and cultural participation increases in society at large, the obligations grow correspondingly for museums to meet the growing needs and expectations of their communities for direct involvement in all aspects of the museum’s planning, development, management and execution of everyday activities and special projects.
The Silletto Prize for Community Participation and Engagement is sponsored by the Silletto Trust and celebrates a deep, continuous and empowering involvement between a museum and its stakeholders, that places the museum as a point of orientation and reference at the centre of its communities, whether these be local, national, global or otherwise defined.
Winners
2023 - Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archaeological Museum of Georgian National Museum (Vani, Georgia)
For more information:
museum.ge
emya2023winners.europeanforum.museum
2022 - Museum of Footwear Industry (Inca, Spain)
For more information:
incaturistica.es
2021 - Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum (Bayburt, Turkey)
kenanyavuzetnografyamuzesi.org/en/
2020 - 14 Henrietta Street (Dublin, Ireland)
14henriettastreet.ie
2019 - Shipwreck Museum St. George (Thorsminde, Denmark)
2018 - Betina Museum of Wooden Shipbuilding (Betina, Croatia)
2017 - Leiria Museum (Leiria, Portugal)
2016 - Vukovar City Museum (Vukovar, Croatia)
2015 - Familistere at Guise (Guise, France)
2014 - Saurer Museum (Arbon, Switzerland)
2013 - MAS - Museum aan de Stroom (Antwerp, Belgium)
2012 - TOPIC international Puppet Museum (Tolosa, Spain)
2011 - Watersnood Museum (Ouwerkerk, Netherlands)
Click here for more information
The Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging
The Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging
As all areas of the world grow increasingly interdependent and intertwined, and as Europe and the individual nations and regions within Europe grow increasingly diverse, the obligations increase correspondingly for museums to include and welcome all visitors, across class, gender, race, ethnicity, age, education or other differences in background.
Introduced for the first time in 2019, the Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging is sponsored by the Municipality of Portimão and celebrates a friendly atmosphere of inclusion, where all elements of the museum, its physical environment, its human qualities, its displays and public programmes, contribute to making everyone feel they are valued and respected and belong in the museum.
Winners
2023 - Chillida Leku (Hernani, Spain)
museochillidaleku.com
emya2023winners.europeanforum.museum
2022 - The University Museum of Bergen – Natural History (Bergen, Norway)
For more information:
universitetsmuseet.no/nb
emya2022winners.europeanforum.museum
2021 - Gruuthusemuseum (Brugge, Belgium)
museabrugge.be
Read more
2020 - MO Museum (Vilnius, Lithuania)
www.mo.lt/en
dedicated page coming soon
2019 - Brunel’s SS Great Britain (Bristol, United Kingdom)
For more information:
ssgreatbritain.org
The Meyvaert Museum Prize for Environmental Sustainability
The Meyvaert Museum Prize for Environmental Sustainability
As the gravity of climate change and the destruction of nature continues apace and the wide-ranging implications are more directly experienced in people’s everyday lives, the obligations increase correspondingly for museums to reflect and address these urgent issues and contribute to safeguarding the future for coming generations.
The Meyvaert Museum Prize for Environmental Sustainability is sponsored by Meyvaert and goes to a museum which shows an exceptional commitment to reflecting and addressing issues of sustainability and environmental health in its collecting, documentation, displays and public programming as well as in the management of its own social, financial and physical resources.
Prior to 2020, before being introduced as an award, it was given as a Special Commendation for sustainability.
Winners
2023 - Swiss Museum of Agriculture (Burgrain, Switzerland)
For more information:
museumburgrain.ch
emya2023winners.europeanforum.museum
2022 - Holmegaard Værk (Fensmark, Denmark)
For more information:
museerne.dk/holmegaard-vaerk
emya2022winners.europeanforum.museum
2021 - Museum Walserhaus (Bosco Gurin, Switzerland)
walserhaus.ch/de/
2020 - The Wadden Sea Centre (Ribe, Denmark)
vadehavscentret.dk/en/frontpage
Special Commendations
Special Commendations
Special Commendations are given to museums that have developed a new and innovative aspect of their public service and from which other European museums can learn.
2023, BARCELONA
Thackray Museum of Medicine, United Kingdom
Ilia Chavchavadze Literary Memorial Museum. Museum of the Tbilisi Museums Union, Georgia
Graz Museum Schlossberg, Austria
FeliXart Museum, Belgium
Abbey Church of Payerne, Switzerland
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, Netherlands
For more information: EMYA2023 Winners Brochure
2022, TARTU, ESTONIA
Ghent University Museum, Belgium
Experimenta, Germany
Sigismondo Castromediano Museum, Italy
Nicolaus Copernicus House, Poland
Nordiska museet, Sweden
Swiss Museum of the Blind, Switzerland
The Box, Plymouth, United Kingdom
For more information: EMYA2022 Winners Brochure
2021, ONLINE AWARD CEREMONY - HOSTED BY THE YELTSIN CENTRE, RUSSIAN REPUBLIC
Women's Museum Hittisau, Austria
Haapsalu and Läänemaa Museums, Estonia
Futurium, Germany
Danube Museum, Hungary
Museum of Krakow - Thesaurus Cracoviensis, Poland
OMM - Odunpazari Modern Museum, Turkey
2020, ONLINE AWARD CEREMONY - HOSTED BY THE YELTSIN CENTRE, RUSSIAN REPUBLIC
Museum Hof van Busleyden, Belgium
M9 - Museum of the 20th Century, Italy
Tropenmuseum, Netherlands
Museum of Archaeological Wood “Tatar Settlement", Russian Republic
Uchma Museum, Uchma Museum
Museum of Troy, Turkey
National Museum of Scotland, United Kingdom
2019, SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
World Nature Forum. Switzerland (Special Commendation for Sustainability)
Museum of Apoxyomenos, Croatia
House of European History, Belgium
Museum Plantin-Moretus, Belgium
Moesgaard Museum, Denmark
Verdun Memorial, France
The National Museum in Szczecin – The Dialogue Centre Upheavals, Poland
Pan Tadeusz Museum, Poland
2018, WARSAW, POLAND
Vapriikki Museum Centre, Tampere, Finland (Special Commendation for Sustainability)
Lascaux IV- International Centre For Cave Art, Dordogne, France
Helsinki City Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Rainis and Aspazija’s Museum, Riga, Jurmala and Dunava, Latvia
Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Florence, Italy
Museum University Of Navarra, Pamplona, SpainYork Art Gallery, York, United Kingdom
Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
2017, ZAGREB, CROATIA
Visitor Centre of the Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach, Switzerland (Special Commendation for Sustainability)
The Old Town. National Open-Air Museum of Urban History and Culture, Aarhus, Denmark
Museum of Confluences, Lyon, France
Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Heraklion, Greece
Muzeum Śląskie, Katowice, Poland
York Art Gallery, York, United Kingdom
2016, TOLOSA AND SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
Museum of Bibracte, Mont Beuvray, France (Special Commendation for Sustainability)
The Archaeological Museum of Tegea, Tegea, Greece
BZ ´18–´45.One Monument, One City, Two Dictatorships: permanent exhibition within the Monument to Victory, Bolzano, Italy
National Military Museum, Soest, The Netherlands
The Information Age Galleries, The Science Museum, London, United Kingdom
The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom
2015, GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM
The Finnish Nature Centre Haltia, Haltia, Finland (Special Commendation for Sustainability)
Red Star Line Museum, Antwerp, Belgium
MUSE: Museo delle Scienze (Science Museum), Trento, Italy
Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth, UK
Vorarlberg Museum, Vorarlberg, Austria
2014, TALLINN, ESTONIA
Lennusadam, Estonian Maritime Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden
Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, A Coruña, Spain
Museo Occidens / Catedral de Pamplona, Spain
Kazerne Dossin – Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights, Mechelen, Belgium
Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial, Germany
2013, TONGEREN, BELGIUM
Gobustan National Historical Artistic Preserve, Garadakh district, Azerbaijan
Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, Latvia
The National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
San Telmo Museum, San Telmo, Spain
2012, PENAFIEL, PORTUGAL
Audax Textielmuseum, Tilburg, The Netherlands
The Museum of a Disappeared Taste – Kolomna Pastilla, Kolomna, Russia
The Museum of Prijepolje, Serbia
The People’s History Museum in Manchester, UK
2011, BREMERHAVEN, GERMANY
The British Music Experience, London, United Kingdom
Douro Museum, Peso da Regua, Portugal
Museum of the Artist and Story-Teller Stepan Pisakhov, Arkhangelsk, Russia
Museo Memoria de Andalucia, Granada, Spain
Schiller National Museum, Marbach, Germany
Tampere 1918 – Museum of the Finnish Civil War, Tampere, Finland
2010, TAMPERE, FINLAND
Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
The Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Micheletti Award
Agbar Water Museum, Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain
2009, BURSA, TURKEY
Archaeological Centre of Almoina, Valencia, Spain
Museum of Life Stories, Speicher, Switzerland
Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul, Turkey
Micheletti Award
Museum of the Jaeren Region, Naerbø, Norway
2008, DUBLIN, IRELAND
Catharijneconvent Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
Museum of Almeria, Almeria, Spain
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, London, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
University Science Museum, Coimbra, Portugal
2007, ALICANTE, SPAIN
Museum of the Bresse Region, Saint-Cyr-sur-Menthon, France
The Dolhuys: Museum of Psychiatry, Haarlem, Netherlands
The Railway Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
Paul Klee Centre, Bern, Switzerland
Micheletti Award
Brunel’s ss Great Britain, Bristol, United Kingdom
2006, LISBON, PORTUGAL
inatura - The Natural History Adventure Experience in Dornbirn, Austria
ARoS Denmark, Aarhus, Denmark
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Micheletti Award
Tom Tits Experiment, Södertälje, Sweden
2005, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Saxony Museum of Industry, Chemnitz, Germany
Fishing Museum, Palamos, Spain
Mölndal Museum, Mölndal, Sweden
Micheletti Award
City of Science, Naples, Italy
2004, KIFISSIA, GREECE
La Piscine – André Diligent Museum of Art and Industry, Roubaix, France
House of Terror, Budapest, Hungary
Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Herring Era Museum, Siglufjordur, Iceland
2003, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Kierikki Stone Age Centre, Yli-Ii, Finland
The Goulandris Natural History Museum – Gaia Centre for Environmental Research and Education, Kifissia, Greece
Danube Museum – The Hungarian Museum of Water Administration, Esztergom, Hungary
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, Netherlands
CosmoCaixa, Alcobendas (Madrid), Spain
Imperial War Museum – Holocaust Exhibition, London, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Industrial Museum of Clockmaking, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany
2002, CITY OF LUXEMBOURG
National Museum of History, Sofia, Bulgaria
City Museum – Street Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Levi Strauss Museum ‘Jeans & Kult’, Buttenheim, Germany
Waterford Treasures Museum, Waterford, Ireland
Permafrost Museum, Igarka, Russia
Museum of Kyburg Castle, Kyburg, Switzerland
STEAM: Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Ceramics Museum of Sacavém, Portugal
2001, PISA, ITALY
Farmhouse Museum, Bielefeld, Germany
Museum of the City and the District, Monsummano Terme, Italy
Zaans Museum, Koog aan de Zaan, Netherlands
Coal Mining Museum of Slovenia, Velenje, Slovenia
Härjedalen Mountain Museum, Funäsdalen, Sweden
National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
English Mill’s Cork Museum, Silves, Portugal
2000, BONN, GERMANY
Siida – Sámi Museum & Northern Lapland Nature Centre, Inari, Finland
National Socialist Documentation Centre of the City of Cologne, Germany
Museum of Reconstruction, Hammerfest, Norway
Visionarium, Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal
Museum Estate of L. Tolstoy, Yasnaya Polyana, Russia
Silver Museum, Arjeplog, Sweden
Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Industrion, Kerkrade, Netherlands
1999, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA
Otto Lilienthal Museum, Anklam, Germany
Amedeo Lia Municipal Museum, La Spezia, Italy
Museum De Stadshof, Zwolle, Netherlands
Murska Sobota Regional Museum, Murska Sobota, Slovenia
Vitlycke Museum, Tanumshede, Sweden
Museum of Prehistory, Zug, Switzerland
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Maritime Museum of Jersey, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Verdant Works, Dundee, United Kingdom
1998, SAMOS, GREECE
Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, Germany
Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, Paderborn, Germany
Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Museum of the History of the City of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Michel Giacometti Museum of Work, Setúbal, Portugal
Vladimir & Suzdal Museum of History, Art and Architecture, Vladimir, Russia
Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Ecomuseum Bergslagen, Smedjebacken, Sweden
1997, LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland
Historical Museum, Bielefeld, Germany
Lower Bavarian Museum of Prehistory, Landau, Germany
Historical and Ethnological Museum of Greek-Cappadocian Civilisations, Nea Karvali, Greece
Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, Netherlands
Old Royal Observatory, London, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
Municipal Museum, Idrija, Slovenia
1996, BARCELONA, SPAIN
Museum of the Práchenské Region, Písek, Czech Republic
Lusto - Finnish Forest Museum, Punkaharju, Finland
Countryside Museum, Usson-en-Forez, France
German Safety at Work Exhibition, Dortmund, Germany
Turaida Museum, Turaida, Latvia
Groningen Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Chiado Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Gijón Heritage Project, Gijón, Spain
Glassworks Museum, Hergiswil, Switzerland
Museum of Liverpool Life, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Micheletti Award
German Safety at Work Exhibition, Dortmund, Germany
1995, VÄSTERÅS, SWEDEN
Museum of Traditional Local Culture, Spittal/Drau, Austria
Lapidarium of the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
City Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Westphalian Industrial Museum, Waltrop, Germany
Morandi Museum, Bologna, Italy
County Museum of Västernorrland, Härnösand, Sweden
Lindwurm Museum, Stein am Rhein, Switzerland
Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Bodrum, Turkey
City Art Gallery, Southampton, United Kingdom
1994, BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND
Historical Record of the Great War, Péronne, France
Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany
Museonder, Hoenderloo, Netherlands
Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest, Romania
The Tower Museum, Derry, United Kingdom
Museum of Farnham, Farnham, United Kingdom
1993, GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL
State Archaeological Museum, Konstanz, Germany
King Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Museum of the Olive, Imperia Oneglia, Italy
Municipal Museum, Loures, Portugal
Basel Paper Mill, Basel, Switzerland
Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man, United Kingdom
1992, LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS
National Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Prague, Czech Republic
Océanopolis, Brest, France
Museum of Cretan Ethnology, Vori, Greece
Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Inveraray Jail, Inveraray, United Kingdom
1991, HELSINKI, FINLAND
Moorland and Peat Museum, Heidenreichstein, Austria
Dairy Museum, Saukkola, Finland
Museum of Automata, Souillac, France
The Old Synagogue, Essen, Germany
Coastal Museum, Gratangsbotn, Norway
Agricultural Museum of Entre Douro e Miño, Vila do Conde, Portugal
House of Wheat and Bread, Echallens, Switzerland
Natural History Museum, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, United Kingdom
1990, BOLOGNA, ITALY
Heureka - The Finnish Science Centre, Vantaa, Finland
German Cookery Book Museum, Dortmund, Germany
Municipal Museum, Gütersloh, Germany
Røros Museum, Røros, Norway
Marionette Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, United Kingdom
National Waterways Museum, Gloucester, United Kingdom
1989, BASEL, SWITZERLAND
Ecomuseum of Alsace, Ungersheim, France
Museum of Coaches, Carriages, Carts and Wagons, Heidenheim a.d. Brenz, Germany
Municipal Museum, Iserlohn, Germany
International Lace Museum, Nordhalben, Germany
Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, Prato, Italy
National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida, Spain
The Futures’ Museum, Borlänge, Sweden
Bergslagen Ecomuseum, Falun, Sweden
Swiss Museum of Games, La-Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Brewing and Brewery Museum, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
1988, DELPHI, GREECE
Provincial Museum of Modern Art, Ostend, Belgium
Aine Art Museum, Tornio, Finland
Museum of Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France
Normandy Museum, Caen, France
‘Tactual Museum’ of the Lighthouse for the Blind in Greece, Kallithea, Greece
Sa Dom’e Farra Museum, Quartu S. Elena, Italy
Museon, The Hague, Netherlands
Museum of Medieval Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Maison Tavel, Geneva, Switzerland
Antalya Museum, Antalya, Turkey
Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
1987, DURHAM, ENGLAND
Museum of Biometeorology, Zwettl, Austria
Waterloo Museum, Waterloo, Belgium
Museum of Prehistory, Carnac, France
Wallpaper Museum, Rixheim, France
Ruhr Museum, Essen, Germany
New State Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany
Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art, Athens, Greece
Sarakatsani Folklore Museum, Serres, Greece
Municipal Museum, Rende Centro, Italy
Akershus Museum, Strømmen, Norway
National Theatre Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Forestry Museum, Lycksele, Sweden
Nature Museum, Lucerne, Switzerland
Alimentarium, Vevey, Switzerland
The Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom
1984, ENKHUIZEN, THE NETHERLANDS
Paul Delvaux Museum, Saint-Idesbald, Belgium
David d’Angers Museum, Angers, France
Museum of Navigation, Regensburg, Germany
Museum of Early Industrialisation, Wuppertal, Germany
Fota House, Carrigtwohill, Ireland
Archaeological Museum, Chieti, Italy
Museum of Farming & Crafts of Calabria, Monterosso Calabro, Italy
Evaristo Valle Museum, Gijón, Spain
Museum of the Province of Bohuslän, Uddevalla, Sweden
Museum of the Horse, La Sarraz, Switzerland
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul, Turkey
The Burrell Collection, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, United Kingdom
Note: For administrative reasons, the judging of candidates for the 1985 and 1986 Awards took place in 1986 and the presentations were made in 1987. It was therefore decided to refer to these as the 1987 Awards.
1983, PARIS, FRANCE
Museum of Old Technology, Grimbergen, Belgium
Museum of Contemporary Art, Dunkirk, France
German Museum of Locks & Fastenings, Velbert, Germany
Roscrea Heritage Centre, Roscrea, Ireland
Museum of the Mediterranean, Stockholm, Sweden
Scottish Agricultural Museum, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Belfast, United Kingdom
Museum of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Royal Marines Museum, Southsea, United Kingdom
1982, MILAN, ITALY
National Museum of Marble, Rance, Belgium
Archaeological Museum, Kelheim, Germany
Goulandris Natural History Museum, Kifissia, Greece
Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna, Italy
Ringve Museum, Trondheim, Norway
Museum of Crafts and Maritime Culture, Lidköping, Sweden
Museum of Stained Glass, Romont, Switzerland
Technorama, Winterthur, Switzerland
Bank of Ireland Special Exhibitions Award Awarded jointly to:
The Yorkshire Museum, York, United Kingdom - The Vikings in England
The Guinness Museum, Dublin, Ireland - Wine of the country: a James’s Gape at Guinness and Dublin
Specially commended
Museum for the Blind, Brussels, Belgium - The Cathedral
1981, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Museum of Prehistory of the Ile-de-France, Nemours, France
Museum of Gardeners and Vinegrowers, Bamberg, Germany
Historical Museum, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
Museum of the Valley, Zogno, Italy
Ethnological Museum, Muro, Mallorca, Spain
Historical Museum, Olten, Switzerland
Natural History Museum, Solothurn, Switzerland
‘Hunday’, National Farm and Tractor Museum, Stocksfield, United Kingdom
Bank of Ireland Special Exhibitions Award
Northern Animal Park, Emmen, Netherlands - Flowers and colours; Locomotion
Specially commended
People’s Palace Museum, Glasgow, United Kingdom - Glasgow stained glass
Museum of Mankind, London, United Kingdom - Asante, kingdom of gold
Royal Armoury, Stockholm, Sweden - Royal leisure
1980, LONDON, ENGLAND
Sara Hildén Museum, Tampere, Finland
Museum of Art and History, Metz, France
PTT Museum, Riquewihr, France
State Museum of History and Art, Luxembourg
Norwegian Forestry Museum, Elverum, Norway
Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, Cuenca, Spain
Castle Museum, Hallwil, Switzerland
British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom
Bank of Ireland Special Exhibitions Award
Museum of Ethnography and History, Povoa de Varzim, Portugal - Signs and symbols used by local fishermen
Specially commended
Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark - Boats of Greenland
Children’s Workshop, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France - The sense of touch; Colour
Gallery of Modern Art, Milan, Italy - Illustrations of working-class life: Attilio Pusterla and the poor man’s eating place
1979, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Michel Thiery Natural History Museum, Ghent, Belgium
National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland
Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Museum of the Tropics, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tromsø Museum, Tromsø, Norway
Royal Armoury, Stockholm, Sweden
Pierre Gianadda Foundation, Martigny, Switzerland
Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery, St Peter Port, United Kingdom
Bank of Ireland Special Exhibitions Award
Archaeological Museum, Thessaloniki, Greece - Treasures of Macedonia
Specially commended
Crédit Communal de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium - Brussels: Building and Rebuilding
Museum of Cultural History, Randers, Denmark - This is all about us; When the asphalt starts rolling; The vagabonds
Award for Creative Museum Management
Dr Alfred Waldis
Swiss Transport Museum, Lucerne, Switzerland
1978, AACHEN, GERMANY
Louisiana: Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
Centre of Oceanography, Paris, France
Ecomuseum, Le Cresot, France
Bank of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
National Museum of Costume, Lisbon, Portugal
National Travelling Exhibitions, Stockholm, Sweden
Museum of London, London, United Kingdom
Erddig Park, Wrexham, United Kingdom
1977, STRASBOURG, FRANCE
FN Museum of Industrial Archaeology, Herstal, Belgium
Technical Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Terra Amata Museum, Nice, France
Municipal Museum, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
Historical Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Preus Foto Museum, Horten, Norway
International Museum of Clocks and Watches, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
To be a winner
To be a winner
Below you can read several testimonials about what it means to be an award winner and what this has led to.
L'ETNO, Valencian Museum of Ethnology, The European Museum of the Year Award 2023
"Receiving the EMYA award is being a massive thing for L’ETNO, probably the best that has ever happened to our museum. Only a few days after the announcement, we are already feeling a big change. As a museum L’ETNO has always suffered from invisibility and some lack of understanding among our own people/authorities. It is somehow normal, we are not one of the region's big museums, and we work with a type of heritage -ethnographic- not too glamorous. What is happening after the prize is a revolution. Media attention is being massive, and, suddenly, there is a kind of sense of pride all around us. What seemed difficult, seems easy. The team, of course, is happier than ever. This is a game changing experience."
The Workers Museum, the winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2023
"Absolutely amazing and completely unreal!
The Council of Europe Musem Prize 2023 confirms us in our effort to communicate the history of the labour movement in a way that strengthens democratic participation and motivates debate in the future of democracy. We are grateful to the Committee for Culture and the European Museum Forum for acknowledging our work and for raising awareness about the value of museums"
Søren Bak-Jensen
Museum Director
23.5 Hrant Dink site of Mmoy, the winner of the Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity, 2023
"Thank you very much for acknowledging our work by honoring us with this meaningful and prestigious award. Each award is a celebration, however for us each award also represents a dilemma. We wish we lived in a world where we only built and created museums that would celebrate life, cherish diversity, co-existence, human rights, peace and acknowledge the courageous efforts of wonderful people while they were alive.
Remembering and dealing with the past is a sort of resistance and a different form of activism that sparks transformative change within communities. 23.5 acts as a space that encourages people to deal with the past while also functioning as a space for dialogue, communication and comprehension. Since January 19th 2007, which marks the day when Hrant Dink was killed, our hearts are wounded and we are trying to heal our wounds through our mission and work. 23.5 offers a unique life story - not every life story can be exhibited. But at the same time killing someone doesn’t mean that that person is dead. As Hrant Dink’s wife Rakel Dink said, each death is a journey to eternity and we are aware how his death produced thousands of seeds.
As Iranian poet Füruğ Ferruhzad said, the bird may die, keep the flight in mind. Hrant Dink’s flight is still continuing, through the work of the Hrant Dink Foundation, through the work of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory. His vision and the values he endorsed are inspiring, encouraging many minds and many hearts.
This award is very meaningful as it has ‘courage’ in its name. Horatius once said Sapere Aude, which means “dare to know”, “be brave to know”. We should be courageous and be unafraid of the truth, because the more we are afraid of it, we know that the ghosts of the past will haunt us forever. We should not deny it.
We would like to express our thanks to our entire team at the Hrant Dink Foundation, our board members, advisory board members and our team members who worked very hard, day and night for the creation of our memory site despite all the challenges and despite all the difficulties. And most importantly I would like to thank Hrant Dink’s family for harnessing their incredible pain into power and into action."
Nayat Karakose
Program Coordinator, Hrant Dink Vakfı/ Hrant Dink Foundation
Museo Chillida Leku, the winner of the Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging, 2023
Receiving the Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging at the European Museum of the Year Awards, EMYA 2023 has been very gratifying for the museum and a confirmation that we are on the right track with our social and educational programme, which fills us with joy. This award reaffirms our desire to be an inclusive museum for the community, an active meeting place where every visitor is at the centre, regardless of their age, origin or background. Chillida Leku is the space designed by Eduardo Chillida, and the artist's thought and work inspire us to make the museum a welcoming place, a refuge for the soul where we can feel good, comfortable and safe, surrounded by art and nature, but it is also a place for reflection, where through art, we can dream of new ways of inhabiting the world in which we live.
Museum of the mind, the European Museum of the Year Award 2022
This European prize is of unprecedented value and an important recognition for our renovated museum. Based on personal stories, historical objects, art and science, we challenge you to look openly at your own mind and that of others. To belong and participate, regardless of how you feel, look or behave is the foundation of our new permanent exhibition. With this, we as a museum, want to contribute to an inclusive society.
Hans Looijen
Director
Nano Nagle Place, the winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2022
"We are so honoured to be awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2022 for celebrating human rights, democracy, and intercultural dialogue. Our mission is to take Nano’s values of education and social justice into the twenty-first century. To be recognised at the vanguard of museum practice in our work across heritage and community development, particularly the Lantern Project and the Cork Migrant Centre, confirms our belief that museums really can change the world."
Shane Clarke
CEO of Nano Nagle Place
"Nano Nagle Place has given a new meaning to the concept of the museum. It uses Nano Nagle, a powerful figure from the past, reinterpreting her call for the 21st century to create meaningful change in the present. Nano Nagle’s core mission of outreach and education sits at the centre of the museum, in the form of Cork Migrant Centre and The Lantern Community Project, and that is what makes Nano Nagle Place a museum with a difference, making a difference."
Sr Julie Watson
Presentation Sisters Congregational Leader
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the European Museum of the Year Award 2021
It's great that our museum is internationally recognized through this prize. Thank you so much! Fascination for the beauty and diversity of nature, that is the foundation of Naturalis. Thanks to our museum, we can share our love and passion for nature with the public. If people embrace nature, they will also take better care of it. And that is now more necessary than ever!
Edwin van Huis
General Director
Stapferhaus, the European Museum of the Year Award 2020
What an honour to have won the EMYA2020! Many thanks to the European Museum Forum and the EMYA jury for this important award. It honours the Stapferhaus, the changeable new building and our exhibition work. In our house the big questions of the present stand at the forefront, the constructive dialogue and thus the audience - old and young, conservative and progressive, experts and laymen. The prize thus also stands for all museums that are not afraid to take on social responsibility. We are looking forward to an exchange with them and the audience!
Gulag History Museum, the winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2021
On behalf of the GULAG History Museum team I would like to thank the Council of Europe for the prestigious prize. The recognition from international museum community encourages us to continue carrying out the mission that we have projected for our institution - telling the history of the mass repression and thus encouraging reflection on the value of human life.
It is with great sorrow we have all been following the news on how the pandemic has affected lives of millions of people. As we all know, many cultural institutions were forced to dismiss members of staff, sell valuable pieces from their collections and overall rethink their plans. So the prize of the Council of Europe is even more valuable for us in the time when we all have to collaborate and reinvent our role for the community.
Roman Romanov
Director of the GULAG History Museum (Moscow, Russia)
CosmoCaixa, the winner of the Kenneth Hudson Prize 2021
Here at CosmoCaixa, we want to share just how overjoyed and grateful we are to have received the 2021 Kenneth Hudson Prize from the European Museum Forum, in recognition of our “ability to reinvent ourselves and our interminable contribution to society.” We will keep on working with the same enthusiasm to contribute towards bringing science close to people and building a better society. Thank you to everyone who helps make this possible!
Valentí Farràs
CosmoCaixa Director
Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, the winner of the silletto Prize 2021
We’ve started with telling the story of our family and now awarded by one of the most prestigious organisations in the world. We are incredibly happy and honoured!
Sincerity, authenticity and simplicity have been at our core, while always continuing to dig deeper into the cultural values of our region. Having won the Silletto Prize, we now will be able to strengthen our institutional structure and have greater support from the public. Our messages will be delivered more effectively and the impact we wish to make locally will be supported by this wonderful international recognition we’ve received.
We will work with all the previous winners of the Silletto Prize as well as its future winners to become solution partners and create synergy through initiating projects together. We will also make sure to grow our network with European museums.
We are looking forward to leveraging every opportunity and guidance that is provided by EMYA and EMF and make sure that we always embody and represent the award we have won at EMYA 2021 in the best ways possible.
Gruuthusemuseum, the winner of the Portimão Museum Prize 2021
We are very proud that the Gruuthusemuseum is The Winner of the Portimão Museum Prize 2021! It is an honour for the whole museum staff of Musea Brugge, for all the colleagues and the council of the city of Bruges.
The museum's high-quality renovation has transformed it into a fully accessible heritage site which now feels like an open welcoming house, designed to serve the needs of all of its guests. We are happy the jury could appreciate this.
Musea Brugge would like to thank the European Museum Forum and the EMYA jury for for the prestigious prize. We will cherish the award, also as an inspiration for next projects. And we are looking forward to a further exchange of our experience with the museum world and our public.
Welcome in Bruges!
Museum Walserhaus Bosco Gurin, the winner of the Meyvaert Prize for sustainability 2021
To have won the Meyvaert Prize for Sustainability makes us very proud, and we are thankful to all the EMYA staff, judges and referees. The prize shows us that we are on the right track, it gives us the impetus to continue, it strengthens even more the feeling of togetherness in the whole village and arouses more interest on the part of the public.
Everyone was extremely happy, especially because they are all part of the museum, each according to his or her abilities, and because all have contributed in one way or another to making it possible. What characterises our museum is the lifeblood, the bond with the village and the "people", the passion, the friendship and mutual appreciation, the modesty. To us, every action, decision and activity must show respect for history, tradition, landscape and for the people. It must pursue the goal of contributing to peace-building in the most diverse ways, promoting tolerance and mutual appreciation and showing openness towards the "other".
We will continue in this direction: thank you for sustaining us by this great appreciation.
Museum of Krakow - Thesaurus Cracoviensis, Special Commendation 2021
Ten months ago, we registered Museum of Krakow – Thesaurus Cracoviensis to European Museum of the Year Award. Almost one year later, I can now say that the dreams really come true. Maybe it just takes some time but the most important thing is to give oneself a chance!
I am really proud of this special commendation which is, in my opinion, a microcosmic reflection of our international museum community. We are citizens of Europe, we are citizens of the world!
I would like to express my appreciation to the European Museum Forum board of trustees, European Museum of the Year Award jury and everyone involved in the organisation of the EMYA 2020-2021 Award Ceremony. Finally, I would like to thank to the whole team of Museum of Krakow that was engaged in creating Thesaurus Cracoviensis. Thank you!
Michał Niezabitowski
Director of the Museum of Krakow
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, the European Museum of the Year Award 2019
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in the Netherlands is honoured to be the winner of the prestigious European Museum of the Year Award 2019. It is a tremendous compliment. Every day we are told by visitors how greatly they appreciate our renewed museum, something we are incredibly proud of. We also welcome many representatives of the museums who come to us for inspiration to introduce innovations in their own museum. This award is really the cherry on the cake.
We have celebrated the award with our staff and visitors and used a wide variety of our communication tools to spread the news. This resulted in many extra visitors in the past few months.
Interview on EMYA2013 Kenneth Hudson Prize: Batalha Community Museum
Several months after their prize we wanted to know how they were getting on; we met Ana Luisa Moderno and Cintia Manuela. Located in Batalha town, near Bathalha’s Monastery, a UNESCO monument, the MCCB is seen as an innovative cultural centre, which promotes cultures, knowledge and heritage, in one of the main tourist destinations of Portugal. Kenneth Hudson wanted museums to make a difference to people and for museums to put people first. In this aim, the MCCB won the Kenneth Hudson Prize in 2013 for its work in providing museum experiences for blind and partially-sighted visitors which normalises their experience and addresses an important aspect of equality.
What was your first impression you heard that you won the EMYA 2013 Kenneth Hudson prize?
I remember we were in Tongeren, Belgium and the Kenneth Hudson was the first prize announced; a few seconds before I thought in my head « it’s for us « and we heard our museum, we jumped off our chair ! The second we received the prize we had several phone calls from Portuguese journalist who wanted to have information on us, we hadn’t prepared it and we had to manage a huge amount of demand, it was such an accomplishment.
How was your prize received in Portugal?
As we were the first Portuguese museum who won the Kenneth Hudson Award, we received a lot of solicitations from Portuguese newspaper, radio, television not only specialist magazines but general media. “We were everywhere”. This was a strong feeling of being so proud for the Portuguese museum and Portuguese people.
Did you increase your number of visitors?
Of course we did! But funny enough it was very effective we welcome a large number of visitors only few days after the prize. Everybody wanted to visit us! We also increased our number of visitors in the long term, something like 5000 people more in 2013; this prize is a recognition from the public.
Did this prize change anything in your work?
Clearly not! By receiving this prize we understand that we were working in a good way and we should continue in this direction, this recognition permitted us to be more confident and continue on this way. Receiving an award from a European organisation of museum professionals is a huge breathes for us. It reassures us in our work and our future projects; we won credibility in front visitors and with collaborators. It makes us confident but even more ambitious in developing new projects, to attract the public as much as possible.
Did anything change with the local community?
Since the prize, we won credibility with the schools located around Bathalha, before it we received school group two months a year around March and April but now we have a big demand from the teachers and we organise two or three workshops per month in our museum.
Do you have any anecdote related to the European Museum Forum?
Yes! We received our EMF judge Shirley Collier who stayed two days in Bathalha and we knew that in the EMF model, we could receive a second anonymous visit. One day, during the competition, we received a man who presented himself as a Japanese tourist , he stayed 3 hours in our museum watching everything object by object, we started to be suspicious and thinking maybe it’s a EMYA Judge! Today we still don’t know if it was an anonymous judge or a simple visitor, but EMF doesn’t want to reply to keep the mystery alive!
Adelheid Ponsioen, Open Air Museum, Arnhem (The Netherlands)
Winning the European Museum of the Year Award (2005) is a great honour. As director of the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, I once experienced it myself and the exposure was great. That year the number of visitors increased considerably.
The EMF, which organises the award of this prize annually, is an important organisation, which once a year brings together a large part of the European Museum World to get to know new developments in the museum world and to see the presentations of the nominees.
The congresses are organised throughout Europe, making it possible to visit a number of museums in the organising country and to get to know the culture of the country. In short, this price and the related prices must remain and the EMF as an organisation, mainly consisting of volunteers, must remain and be supported.
