Spotlight
Get ready for EMYA2024
The EMYA Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony will be held in Portimão from 1 to 4 May 2024. Organised by the EMF and hosted by the Municipality of Portimao and Portimao Museum, the event will bring together members of the EMYA community including former candidates, partners and friends, in addition to the EMYA2024 nominee museums.
Registration is open via the conference website. The closing date is 21 April.
Nominees' online brochure is now published. The final programme is also available.
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Spotlight
The application process for EMYA2025 is now closed!
We thank all participating museums for their interest in taking part in the EMYA next year.
The nominees for EMYA2025 will be announced towards the end of the year, following the judging visits by the EMYA Jury throughout the summer.
Please stay tuned for the future announcements on our next edition: EMYA2026.
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Spotlight
Museum Studio travel grantees are now announced!
The selection process of the Museum Studio travel grantees to take part in the EMYA2024 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony is now finalised and the list of this year's grantees is announced.
Eight travel grants are awarded to individuals belonging to the following categories: staff of museums nominated for EMYA2024 who would otherwise be unable to attend, emerging museum professionals – the next generation of innovators, and EMF National Correspondents.
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April 17th, 2024
The Sybir Memorial Museum, the 2024 winner of the CoE Museum Prize was awarded during a special ceremony in Strasbourg.
At a special ceremony that took place on 16 April 2024 in Strasbourg, the Sybir Memorial Museum (Białystok, Poland) was awarded with the 2024 Council of Europe Museum Prize and symbolically received its trophy. The museum was selected by the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 5 December 2023.
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December 5th, 2023
The Sybir Memorial Museum wins 2024 Council of Europe Museum Prize
With great joy, the European Museum Forum shares the decision by the CoE on the 2024 Winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize. Selected by the Culture Committee, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting on 5 December 2023, the Sybir Memorial Museum (Białystok, Poland) wins the prize.
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December 1st, 2023
EMYA2024 nominees are now announced!
Time to announce the EMYA2024 nominees. Fifty museums are nominated by the EMYA Jury to take part in this year's edition. We express our gratitude to the nominated museums who kept faith with EMYA in applying and in welcoming the judges.
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November 15th, 2023
In memoriam of Kimmo Antila
Kimmo Antila, former member of the European Museum of the Year Award Jury and Board Member of the European Museum Forum has passed away from cancer at the young age of 57. He was a greatly valued member of the EMYA Jury and latterly of the European Museum Forum Board.
As members of the jury and board who worked with Kimmo, we will always remember his insightful judgement of museums, but also his great heart and capacity for friendship.
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May 23rd, 2023
EMYA2023 testimonials by Museum Studio travel grants
We thank the Chargeurs Museum Studio for its generous support and to our grantees for joining us in celebrating the EMYA2023 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony in Barcelona from 3 to 6 May 2023. Here are the testimonials the 2023 grantees shared with us!
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May 6th, 2023
The winners of EMYA2023 are announced!
The European Museum Forum is happy to announce the winners of the European Museum of the Year Awards for 2023. The winners in different categories under the EMYA scheme were presented on the last day of the EMYA2023 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony that was held on 3-6 May 2023 in Barcelona.
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April 26th, 2023
The Workers Museum, the 2023 winner of the CoE Museum Prize was awarded during a special ceremony in Strasbourg.
At a special ceremony that took place on 25 April 2023 in Strasbourg’s Palais de L'Europe, the Workers Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark) was awarded with the 2023 Council of Europe Museum Prize and received its trophy. The museum was selected by the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 5 December 2022.
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December 15th, 2022
Applications for EMYA2024 are now open!
The application process for EMYA2024 is now open! The extended closing date is Thursday, 27 April 2023.
All European museums which are not for profit and have opened or been substantially renewed since January 2019 are eligible to apply. Museums/exhibitions opened for more than 4 years at the time of the application, are not eligible.
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December 6th, 2022
The Workers Museum wins 2023 Council of Europe Museum Prize.
With great joy, the European Museum Forum shares the decision by the CoE on the 2023 Winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize.
Selected by the Culture Committee, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting on 5 December 2022, the Workers Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark) wins the prize.
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December 6th, 2022
EMYA2023 nominees are now announced!
The European Museum Forum is happy to announce the EMYA2023 nominees. Thirty-three museums are nominated by the EMYA Jury to take part in this year's edition.
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May 7th, 2022
The winners of EMYA2022 are announced!
The European Museum Forum is happy to announce the winners of the European Museum of the Year Awards for 2022. The winners in different categories under the EMYA scheme were presented on the last day of the EMYA2022 Annual Conference and Award Ceremony that was held on 4-7 May 2022 in Tartu, Estonia.
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April 26th, 2022
Nano Nagle Place, the 2022 winner of the CoE Museum Prize was awarded during a special ceremony in Strasbourg's Palais Rohan
At a special ceremony that took place on 26 April 2022 in Strasbourg’s Palais Rohan, the Nano Nagle Place (Cork, Ireland) was awarded with the 2022 Council of Europe Museum Prize and received its trophy. The museum was selected by the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 3 December 2021.
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March 5th, 2022
Statement by the EMF/EMYA on the invasion of Ukraine
The European Museum Forum (EMF)/European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) is, as are other cultural organisations across the world, deeply concerned and distressed by the attack of the Russian Federation’s army on civilians and civic institutions in Ukraine.
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December 3rd, 2021
Nano Nagle Place - 2022 winner of the Council of Europe Museum prize
The 2021 Council of Europe Museum Prize has been awarded to Nano Nagle Place (Cork, Ireland). The museum was selected by the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting on December 3rd 2021.
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June 24th, 2021
Gulag History Museum, the 2021 winner of the CoE Museum Prize was awarded during a special ceremony in Strasbourg's Palais Rohan
At a special ceremony that took place on 22 June 2021 in Strasbourg’s Palais Rohan, the Gulag History Museum (Moscow, Russian Federation) was awarded with the 2021 Council of Europe Museum Prize and received its trophy.
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May 6th, 2021
The winners of the EMYA 2020 and 2021 are now announced!
The European Museum Forum is happy to announce the winners of the European Museum of the Year Awards for 2020 and 2021. The winners in different categories under the EMYA scheme were presented at the online ceremony on 6 May 2021, bringing together members of the EMYA community including candidates, partners and friends.
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February 5th, 2021
The Council of Europe's 2021 Museum Prize goes to Gulag History Museum (Moscow, Russian Federation)
With great joy, the European Museum Forum shares the decision by the CoE on the 2021 Winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize.
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February 4th, 2021
EMYA Book Launch - Revisiting Museums of Influence
EMYA's new book: Revisiting Museums of Influence.
In this online event, Sharon Heal, Director, Museums Association and Trustee of EMF Board, meets Mark O'Neill, Jette Sandahl and Marlen Mouliou, the three co-editors of the EMYA book: Revisiting Museums of Influence. Four Decades of Innovation and Public Quality in European Museums.
January 29th, 2021
Applications for EMYA2022 are now open!
All European museums which are not for profit and have opened or been substantially renewed since January 2017 are eligible to apply.
Closing date: 31 May 2021
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January 18th, 2021
Important update on EMYA2020 and EMYA2021
It is with much regret that the European Museum Forum has to acknowledge that, given the current patterns of Covid-19 contagion we will not be able to conduct the EMYA2020 and EMYA2021 conferences and award ceremonies as live, corporal events in May2021 as planned.
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January 14th, 2021
A new term with new faces at EMF/EMYA
The European Museum Forum is happy to start the new year with some exciting changes both within its Board of Trustees and the EMYA Jury.
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October 21st, 2020
The wisdom of Kennet Hudson (1916 - 1999)
See our History section to watch the videos capturing some of Kenneth Hudson's insights from a lifetime of working to make museums more innovative and responsive to the public.
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May 25th, 2019
The EMYA2019 winners were presented on 25 May, at the 2019 Award Ceremony held in Sarajevo
The European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA), organised by the European Museum Forum (EMF), was presented on 25 May, at the 2019 Award Ceremony held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in collaboration with War Childhood Museum, winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2018.
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July 11th, 2018
The European Museum of the Year Award has found a new home
On the July 11th, 2018 the European Museum Forum and the Municipality of Portimao in the Algarve, Portugal signed an agreement that the Museum of Portimao will house and host the EMF Office and Archives
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May 12th, 2018
EMYA2018: the Winners
The European Museum of the Year Award 2018 goes to the DESIGN MUSEUM, London, United Kingdom. Read the article to discover all the 2018's Awards.
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The Awards
The two main awards, the EMYA and the Council of Europe Museum Prize, have been awarded continuously since 1977. The EMYA award scheme responds to long term societal changes as well as current urgent social issues, and reflects the challenges, obligations and opportunities which museums face in the 21st century.
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 a record with 61 candidates.
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The Winners
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. Discover them all.
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About us
The European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) was founded in 1977 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, with the aim of recognising excellence in the European museum scene. EMYA was founded in 1977 on the principles of supporting, encouraging, awarding and showcasing excellence and innovation in the museum field, particularly in the areas conceptualised by Kenneth Hudson as ‘public quality’.
Read moreOur stories
L'ETNO, Valencian Museum of Ethnology
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!
Our stories
Amina Krvavac, Chair of the EMYA Jury
Over the past years, I have had a chance to interact with the EMYA judging panel, to learn about its work and the values it stands for, as well as its detailed evaluation process, but from the perspective of a museum candidate for one of the prizes awarded under the EMYA scheme.
In the course of this process, I understood how valuable the existence and work of EMYA is for any European museum, big or small, old or new, as it continuously inspires and motivates the museums to strive for higher quality and excellence in all aspects of their work. Becoming a judge and finding myself on the other side of the process is an incredible honour, one that comes with great responsibility to contribute to this important mission.
Joining EMYA judging panel is an incredible opportunity to get to know and work closely with an inspiring and dedicated group of professionals on promoting and advocating for excellence and innovation in the European museum sector. The privilege that comes with being an EMYA judge also lies in visiting and learning about the incredible work of nominated museums. Engaging in meaningful conversations with a very diverse pool of professionals allows for personal and professional growth, resulting in life-enriching experience.
M. Cristina Vannini, National Correspondent (Italy)
I have been part of the big EMF/EMYA family since 2004, having held most of the roles: advisor, national correspondent, board member and now, once again, national correspondent (it is almost impossible to leave EMF/EMYA once you've gotten involved!) with a deeper understanding of the meaning of this organization than I had at the beginning of my involvement.
The vision of EMF has changed over all these years, shaping upon the ideas of different Presidents and Boards, but the stated mission of founder Kenneth Hudson is still here to remind us of the central significance of public quality and innovation in the museum field.
My own personal professional growth owes much to the teachings and values of EMF, which I have tried to apply to my work as a museum consultant and lecturer in museum studies in a country where, even recently, the main concerns and policies on museums are still oriented towards conservation and less towards experience. Italy has always been underrepresented in EMYA, but the museums that have accepted the challenge have reported an extraordinary experience that has taught them to open up their views, to confront the outside world, and to establish a true dialogue with their societies and wider stakeholders to meet their mutual ends. And it is this what makes me continue to believe that the role of EMF/EMYA has a bearing in the years to come.
