European Museum of the Year Award

This article is about a Europe-wide award. For the annual UK-specific award, see Museum of the Year.

European Museum of the Year Award
Awarded forUnique atmosphere, imaginative interpretation and presentation, a creative approach to education and social responsibility.[1]
Sponsored by
DateApril–May
LocationVarious European cities
First awarded1977 (1977)
Last awarded2021 (2021)
Websiteeuropeanforum.museum
2017 Map of European Museum of the Year Award-winning museum locations

The European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) is presented each year by the European Museum Forum (EMF) under the auspices of the Council of Europe.[2] The EMYA is considered the most important annual award in the European museum sector.[3][4]

History

The EMYA was founded in 1977 by British journalist Kenneth Hudson, British academic Richard Hoggart, and John Letts, under the auspices of the Council of Europe.[5] It is considered to be the most important award in its sector,[3][6] being described by the Network of European Museums (NEMO) as "the longest-running and most prestigious museum awards in Europe".[4]

The Fonds de dotation de l’ICOM of the International Council of Museums supports the European Museum of the Year Award.[7]

Awards

Categories

Since 1977, the EMF has presented two main awards:

  • European Museum of the Year
  • Council of Europe Museum Prize

Three additional prizes were subsequently added to the EMF awards:

  • In 2010, the Kenneth Hudson Award for daring achievement.[8]
  • In 2011, the Silletto Prize for community/cultural engagement.[9]
  • In 2019, the Portimão Museum Prize for the most welcoming museum.[10]
  • In 2020, the Meyvaert Museum Prize for Sustainability for "exceptional commitment to social, economic and environmental sustainability".[11]

Criteria

The EMF state that the European Museum of the Year is based on:

This award goes to a museum which contributes most directly to attracting audiences and satisfying its visitors with unique atmosphere, imaginative interpretation and presentation, a creative approach to education and social responsibility.

— European Museum Forum, (2019).[1]

The EMF state that the Council of Europe Museum Prize is based on:

This prestigious prize is awarded on the recommendations of the EMYA Judging Panel, by the Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Council of Europe to a museum which puts particular emphasis on a clearly understandable presentation of a European perspective and of the interplay between local and European identities, working with themes of European relevance and adhering to key values and priorities of democracy, human rights, tolerance and intercultural dialogue, of bridging cultures and overcoming social and political borders.

— European Museum Forum, (2019).[12]

Judging

Museums in 47 European countries, all members of the Council of Europe, can take part in the competition if they are newly opened or have undergone modernization or expansion in the past three years.[13]

European Museum of the Year winners (1977–)

The following are the winners of the main European Museum of the Year award:

Year Image Museum Location Country
1977 Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Ironbridge  United Kingdom
1978 Schloss Rheydt Museum Mönchengladbach  West Germany
1979 Museum of the Camargue [fr] Arles  France
1980 Catharine Convent Museum Utrecht  Netherlands
1981 Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation Nafplio  Greece
1982 Museum of Art and History Saint-Denis  France
1983 Museum Sarganserland Sargans   Switzerland
1984 Zuiderzee Museum Enkhuizen  Netherlands
1986 Museum of Medieval Stockholm Stockholm  Sweden
1987 Beamish Museum Stanley  United Kingdom
1988 Brandts Museum Odense  Denmark
1989 Sundsvall Museum Sundsvall  Sweden
1990 Fourmies-Trélon Regional Ecomuseum [tr] Fourmies  France
1991 Leventio Museum Nicosia  Cyprus
1992 State Museum of Technology and Work Mannheim  Germany
1993 Alta Museum Alta  Norway
1994 National Museum of Denmark Copenhagen  Denmark
1995 Olympic Museum Lausanne   Switzerland
1996 Museum of the Romanian Peasant Bucharest  Romania
1997 Museum of Anatolian Civilizations Ankara  Turkey
1998 National Conservation Centre Liverpool  United Kingdom
1999 French Museum of Playing Cards Issy-les-Moulineaux  France
2000 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Bilbao  Spain
2001 National Railway Museum[14] York  United Kingdom
2002 Chester Beatty Library[15] Dublin  Ireland
2003 Victoria and Albert Museum - British Galleries[16] London  United Kingdom
2004 Archaeological Museum of Alicante Alicante  Spain
2005 Netherlands Open Air Museum Arnhem  Netherlands
2006 CosmoCaixa Barcelona  Spain
2007 German Emigration Center Bremerhaven  Germany
2008 Kumu Art Museum Tallinn  Estonia
2009 Salzburg Museum Salzburg  Austria
2010 Ozeaneum[17] Stralsund  Germany
2011 Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren[18] Tongeren  Belgium
2012 Medina Azahara Museum Córdoba  Spain
2013 Riverside Museum Glasgow  United Kingdom
2014 The Museum of Innocence Istanbul  Turkey
2015 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam  Netherlands
2016 POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews Warsaw  Poland
2017 Musée d'ethnographie de Genève Geneva   Switzerland
2018 Design Museum[19] London  United Kingdom
2019 Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Leiden  Netherlands
2020 Stapferhaus Lenzburg   Switzerland
2021 Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden  Netherlands
2022 Museum of the Mind Haarlem  Netherlands
2023 L'Etno Valencian Museum of Ethnology Valencia  Spain
2024 Sámi Museum Siida Inari  Finland

Council of Europe Museum Prize winners (1977–)

The following are the winners of the Council of Europe Museum Prize award:[20]

Year Image Museum Location Country
1977 Fundació Joan Miró Barcelona  Spain
1978 Bryggens Museum Bergen  Norway
1979 Municipal Museum Rüsselsheim [de] Rüsselsheim am Main  Germany
1980 Monaghan County Museum Monaghan  Ireland
1981 Stockholm Music Museum Stockholm  Sweden
1982 Åland Museum Mariehamn  Finland
1983 Joanneum - The Provincial Museum of Styria Graz  Austria
1984 Living Museum of the Canal du Centre Thieu  Belgium
1984 National Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port  United Kingdom
1987 Museum Neukölln Berlin  Germany
1988 Bavarian National Museum Munich  Germany
1988 Convent of Las Descalzas Reales Museum Madrid  Spain
1989 Joods Historisch Museum Amsterdam  Netherlands
1990 Manuel da Maia Museum of Water Lisbon  Portugal
1991 German Salt Museum Lüneburg  Germany
1992 Argenta Marsh Museum Argenta, Emilia–Romagna  Italy
1993 İstanbul Archaeology Museums Istanbul  Turkey
1994 Provincial Museum of Lapland Rovaniemi  Finland
1995 Haus der Geschichte Bonn  Germany
1996 Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna Vienna  Austria
1997 Tropenmuseum Junior Amsterdam  Netherlands
1998 Museum Centre on Strelka Krasnoyarsk  Russia
1999 Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille Lille  France
2000 In Flanders Fields Museum Ypres  Belgium
2001 Helsinki Theatre Museum [fi] Helsinki  Finland
2002 Buddenbrookhaus Lübeck  Germany
2003 Laténium Hauterive, Neuchâtel   Switzerland
2004 Museum of Health Care Edirne  Turkey
2005 Museum of Byzantine Culture Thessaloniki  Greece
2006 Churchill War Rooms London  United Kingdom
2007 International Museum of the Reformation Geneva   Switzerland
2008 Svalbard Museum Longyearbyen  Norway
2009 Zeeuws Museum Middelburg  Netherlands
2010 Portimão Museum Portimão  Portugal
2012 Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Cologne  Germany
2013 Museum of Liverpool Liverpool  United Kingdom
2014 Baksı Museum Bayburt  Turkey
2015 Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations Marseille  France
2016 European Solidarity Centre Gdańsk  Poland
2017 ACTe Memorial Pointe-à-Pitre  France
2018 War Childhood Museum Sarajevo  Bosnia and Herzegovina
2019 Museum für Kommunikation Bern [de] Bern   Switzerland
2020 Museum of Secret Surveillance Tirana  Albania
2021 Gulag History Museum [ru] Moscow  Russia
2022 Nano Nagle Place Cork  Ireland
2023 The Workers Museum Copenhagen  Denmark

Kenneth Hudson Award winners (2010–)

The following are the winners of the Kenneth Hudson Award:[8]

Year Image Museum Location Country
2010 Museum of Contraception and Abortion Vienna  Austria
2011 Museum of Broken Relationships Zagreb  Croatia
2012 Glasnevin Museum Dublin  Ireland
2013 Batalha Municipal Community Museum Batalha  Portugal
2014 Žanis Lipke Memorial Riga  Latvia
2015 International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum Geneva   Switzerland
2016 Micropia Amsterdam  Netherlands
2017 Museum of the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin Yekaterinburg  Russia
2018 Estonian National Museum Tartu  Estonia
2019 World Museum Vienna Vienna  Austria
2020 House of Austrian History [de] Vienna  Austria
2021 CosmoCaixa Barcelona Barcelona  Spain
2022 Wayne Modest, Nanette Snoep, Laura van Broekhoven & Leontine Meijer-van Mensch n/a n/a
2023 23,5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, Türkiye Istanbul  Turkey

Silletto Prize winners (2011–)

The following are the winners of the Silletto Prize:[9]

Year Image Museum Location Country
2011 Watersnoodmuseum Ouwerkerk  Netherlands
2012 TOPIC International Puppets Center [es] Tolosa  Spain
2013 Museum aan de Stroom Antwerp  Belgium
2014 Saurer Museum Arbon   Switzerland
2015 Familistère de Guise [fr] Guise  France
2016 Vukovar City Museum Vukovar  Croatia
2017 Leiria Museum Leiria  Portugal
2018 Betina Museum of Wooden Shipbuilding [hr] Betina  Croatia
2019 Shipwreck Museum St. George [da] Thorsminde [da]  Denmark
2020 14 Henrietta Street Dublin  Ireland
2021 Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum [tr] Bayburt  Turkey
2022 Museum of Footwear and Industry [es] Inca  Spain
2023 Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archaeological Museum of Georgian National Museum Vani  Georgia

Portimão Museum Prize winners (2019–)

The following are the winners of the Portimão Museum Prize:[10]

Year Image Museum Location Country
2019 Brunel's SS Great Britain Bristol  United Kingdom
2020 MO Museum Vilnius  Lithuania
2021 Gruuthusemuseum Bruges  Belgium
2022 University Museum of Bergen Bergen  Norway
2023 Chillida Leku Hernani  Spain

Meyvaert Museum Prize for Sustainability winners (2020–)

The following are the winners of the Meyvaert Museum Prize for Sustainability:[11]

Year Image Museum Location Country
2020 Wadden Sea Centre Ribe  Denmark
2021 Museum Walserhaus Bosco/Gurin   Switzerland
2022 Holmegaard Glass Factory Holmegaard  Denmark
2023 Swiss Museum of Agriculture Alberswil   Switzerland

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "THE EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF THE YEAR AWARD". European Museum Forum. 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  2. ^ European Museum Forum, Council of Europe;
  3. ^ a b Mark Brown (14 May 2018). "Design Museum named European museum of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Winners of the European Museum of the Year Award 2018". Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO). 14 May 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2019. The EMYA and the Council of Europe Museum Prize are the longest running and most prestigious museum awards in Europe.
  5. ^ "HISTORY OF THE ORGANISATION". European Museum Forum. 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019. European Museum of the Year Award scheme was established by three British founders (Kenneth Hudson, Richard Hoggart and John Letts) in 1977.
  6. ^ "Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is European Museum of the Year". Museum Boerhaave. 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019. Founded in 1977, this is the oldest and most prestigious museum award in Europe.
  7. ^ (in English) "ICOM Endowment Fund and European Museum Forum signed agreement for 2016 - 2019" (PDF). Europeanmuseumforum.info. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The Kenneth Hudson Award". European Museum Forum. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. ^ a b "EMYA SILLETTO PRIZE". European Museum of the Year Award. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b "The Portimão Museum Prize – Europe's Most Welcoming Museum". European Museum Forum. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b "The Meyvaert Museum Prize for Sustainability". European Museum Forum. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  12. ^ "THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE MUSEUM PRIZE". European Museum Forum. 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Becoming a candidate — The European Museum of the Year Award". 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  14. ^ Maev Kennedy (1 May 2002). "Steaming". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  15. ^ Brian Lavery (17 July 2002). "Arts Abroad; An Irish Castle for Religious Manuscripts". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  16. ^ Jonathan Glancey (13 September 2004). "Spiralling into Oblivion". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  17. ^ 2010 European Museum of the Year Award, Tampere, Finland, 19–22 May 2010.
  18. ^ "The Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium, won the European Museum of the Year Award 2011" (PDF) (Press release). European Museum Forum. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  19. ^ Brown, Mark (14 May 2018), "Design Museum named European museum of the year", The Guardian, retrieved 7 July 2018
  20. ^ "The Council of Europe Museum Prize". European Museum Forum. Retrieved 20 November 2021.