Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony
The EMYA2024 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony took place in Portimão, Portugal from 1 to 4 May 2024.
Organised by the European Museum Forum and hosted by the Municipality of Portimão and Portimão Museum, the EMYA2024 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony brought together members of the EMYA community including former candidates, partners and friends, in addition to the EMYA2024 nominee museums.
We thank everyone who joined us celebrating this special moment and congratulate the winners of this year in different award categories as well as the nominees who took part in the EMYA2024!
About the host
After many years leading a nomadic existence, moving our offices (and our archives) to different cities across Europe, EMF/EMYA finally found a long-term home in 2018 in Portimão, in Portugal’s Algarve.
The Municipality of Portimão is committed to democratic access to culture, which was reflected in Portimão Museum winning the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2010. Dedicated to cultural participation in Europe, the Municipality’s partnership with EMYA is a way to build on the success of their innovative museum and support the development of museums across the continent. The partners agreed that the Municipality, through the museum, would provide administrative support for the EMF and a home for the EMF/EMYA Archive.
In recognition of this support, the EMF has created the Portimão Museum Prize for a museum that, in the opinion of the jury, is the most welcoming and friendly of that year’s nominated candidates. These are very important values for Portimão, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. The main quality the prize celebrates is a friendly atmosphere of welcome so that all visitors, no matter what their background, feel they belong in the museum. All elements of the museum – its human qualities and physical environment – contribute to the feeling of welcome, as do events and activities in and round the museum.
