News / EMYA2025 testimonials by Museum Studio travel bursaries /

The opportunity to participate in the EMYA awards has been a dream of mine ever since the Portimão Museum became the house of this prestigious award scheme. 

In 2023, I was able to apply and was selected as one of the grantees, which I had to decline due to personal reasons. In 2024, while part of the organizing team of the event in Portimão, I experienced the spirit surrounding this ceremony and all those involved. However, I was not able to fully enjoy everything I felt was happening around me. 

With the nomination of Alvor Lifeboat Interpretation Centre for EMYA 2025, I decided to apply again, hoping to finally experience in full what the participation in this event can offer— something that would only be possible with the aid of a grant. 

Being my grant application one of the chosen ones, I traveled to Białystok with the highest expectations, not only because I was eager to visit a country I had never been to before but specially to connect with colleagues from across Europe and to see what is best being done and lived in museums today. 

My expectations were not defrauded and far exceeded what I had anticipated. 

During the four days of the event, I had the opportunity to get to know extraordinary museums and teams that passionately and innovatively face their realities and challenges, but most importantly, recognize and work to daily improve the crucial role that museums play in creating a better present and future for all.

I met remarkable colleagues who face challenges and propose truly inspiring solutions. I exchanged knowledge and learned a great deal from those who have long worked in museums, as well as from newer colleagues who, despite being recent to the field, found here a space for mutual learning.  

It was also an opportunity to forge new friendships that will be important in building connections between my museum and its European counterparts in the future. 

And, ultimately, the best part —pardon my immodesty— was being able to end this incredible experience by receiving the Silletto Award for the Alvor Lifeboat Interpretation Centre! 

Thank you to EMYA and to Museum Studio for this memorable experience!

I had the honor of attending the EMYA2025 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony, representing the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art.

In addition to the responsibility of representing the institution I work for, I was also excited about the experiences I would gain and the colleagues I would meet during the conference. Moreover, Poland was a country I had long wanted to visit but had never been to before. This trip was a unique opportunity for me, both for my personal development and for getting to  know different cultures and connecting with people.

As someone who relatively started working in the museum field recently, being awarded the travel grant and thus being able to attend the conference made my experience in Białystok even more meaningful.

During the conference, I had the chance to meet many museum professionals from different countries, listen to their inspiring stories, and exchange ideas. Exploring the diverse social, cultural, and educational initiatives led by museums, and engaging in in-depth discussions on themes such as inclusion, accessibility, participation, and sustainability, greatly expanded my perspective and deepened my understanding of contemporary museology. 

The most memorable moment of the conference for me was when Istanbul Modern won The Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging. It was a source of great pride and happiness for me that the museum's contribution to society through art since its foundation was recognized and the work of all our team members was made visible.

I would like to sincerely thank Museum Studio for supporting me with the grant, the EMYA team for organizing a wonderful conference, and the Sybir  Memorial Museum for their kind hospitality. Thank you very much!

Attending EMYA2025 as the curator of the Collective Memory Point in Vad, Romania, was a deeply meaningful experience - one that brought immense pride and a renewed sense of purpose. I am sincerely grateful to Museum Studio for making this journey possible through their travel grant, which allowed me to represent our community on a European stage.

The Collective Memory Point is a grassroots initiative co-created with the people of Vad, aimed at preserving and reinterpreting their everyday heritage. Built through donated objects, shared memories, and intergenerational dialogue, it reflects the essence of living heritage. Being nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award was already an honor - being able to present our project in person at EMYA2025 was truly transformative.

Thanks to Museum Studio’s support, I was able to fully participate in the conference, connect with museum professionals from across Europe, and amplify the voices of a small rural community often left out of broader heritage narratives. The event was rich with inspiring presentations and constructive conversations, highlighting the diversity of museum practice today.

A highlight for me was presenting the story of Vad in a panel on Living Heritage: Museums and Communities Shaping the Present. I spoke about how memory became a living process - how villagers began donating objects instead of discarding them, and how schoolchildren turned into storytellers. The response was both humbling and energizing, with many attendees expressing interest in our approach.

 EMYA2025 was also a valuable opportunity to learn from institutions tackling urgent topics like climate change, accessibility, and post-conflict remembrance. I returned home inspired and connected to a broader European network.

To Museum Studio and European Museum Forum: thank you for believing in community-based work. Your support extended far beyond logistics - it brought visibility, encouragement, and lasting impact.

It was an absolutely fascinating experience!

Not only did I meet the best of the best in the European museum field and got to learn from their experience, creativity and expertise, but it felt like joining a great family!

In Ukraine, where I have the honor and privilege to be a national correspondent, we started to get that feeling of blood ties, as ironic as that may sound, only starting in 2022. Prior to that each of us led our separate institutional lives and it was the tragedy along with fear of losing our collections that brought us together. Now we can definitely say that we are one young, yet huge resilient family. And realising that the European museum community has cherished the same family sentiment for five decades was eye-opening and extremely heart-warming! We are not just one big family inside the country, we are a fantastic, supportive and inspiring family all across the continent!

The topic of this year’s event was “Remembrance and Solidarity for Collective Action”, which is extremely relevant in our times of global uncertainty and exactly what being a family means - remembering the past and staying united while facing challenges. And the narratives of the Sybir Memorial Museum in Bialostok, which hosted the event, presented a perfect and vivid proof of how important our collective and historical memory is! How crucial it is to talk freely about controversial history, its tragic events, acknowledging the past not only to be able to explain the present, but to form a better future as well! Regardless of the present circumstances. 

It was also a great pleasure to see Nini Sanadiradze, former General Director of The Union of Tbilisi Museums (Georgia) receive the 2025 Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity in recognition of the courage it takes to defend core values in challenging times. These times are not merely challenging, they are intimidating. But as one of the speakers said, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, and we have to fight for what we believe in!” Indeed we do. We, museum professionals, take the stand, we take the responsibility - for us, for our institutions, for our collections, for our communities, and for our nations, the sole existence of which is based on cultural identity, which we have made our mission to preserve, inspire and fuel its strength.

It is a great honor to become a part of such an esteemed community of great professionals and a resilient as well as solidarity family! I extend my sincere gratitude to the grant committee and all those involved in making this happen. 

I am sincerely grateful to EMF and Museum Studio for the opportunity to attend EMYA2025 thanks to the travel grant. This trip was incredibly important, valuable, and insightful for me. To participate in an event of such scale, to communicate with museum professionals from across Europe, and to learn more about each of the nominated museums – this has been an unforgettable and enriching experience.

I gained a great deal of knowledge about organizing exhibitions, promoting museum work, and adapting to different working conditions. This experience is not only a major step in my professional development, but also a meaningful contribution to the advancement of museum practice in Ukraine. Given the current challenges facing my country, it is especially crucial to develop diverse skills and competencies in order to respond effectively to unpredictable situations. Direct exchange with colleagues from other countries is exactly what helps build this practical expertise.

As someone who has only been working in the museum sector for a few years, taking part in this event was a powerful motivational boost – both personally and professionally. I work at a museum located in a small town in western Ukraine, and I could never have imagined attending such a prestigious international event. That is why I am particularly grateful to the organizers for recognizing the importance of small museums and giving me this chance. It is not only a great honor, but also a clear sign of support for smaller institutions – an inspiring gesture that encourages their continued growth and development.

The conference program deeply impressed me: from the thought-provoking lectures and discussions to the beautifully organized evening events, including concerts at the opera. I had not expected to enjoy the conference as much as I did – it exceeded all my expectations. The atmosphere was warm, welcoming, and full of joy, which allowed me to feel truly part of the European museum community.

This was a truly valuable experience that gave me a lot of new knowledge and inspiration. I am sincerely thankful for the opportunity to be part of this event – it is something I will always remember.

When the presentation of the Ovartaci Museum was taking place on the stage, a colleague quietly commented: they work with people who are taboo in society — those about whom it is customary not to speak. This struck me deeply, as I realized those words could also apply to my own situation. It is a strange feeling to recognize oneself within a medical diagnosis softened by cultural definitions.

Family members living abroad informed me that they had been forced to cut off communication with me. Their message was brief: “They came to us. It’s not allowed.” I can only imagine what happened behind closed doors—in law enforcement offices, courts, social services—where it was made clear that maintaining contact with me could jeopardize parental rights or other protections.

I looked at my colleague beside me. I hope they are doing better now, but we share a painful similarity: neither of us can return to the country we once called home. For some, this exile is related to involvement in independent cultural organizations or former official cultural institutions. We are part of a diaspora scattered across Europe, where everyday roles conceal deeper identities shaped by displacement. 

A friend once said something about the Belarusian diaspora in Europe. We live as if in the series American Gods. You walk past a store, and inside the god of thunder is making pizza. The taxi driver is the god of war. Why did we end up here? Maybe because culture became (or perhaps always was) one of the tools of struggle in that part of the world where we were born. In our country, we carried the kind of culture that wasn’t considered safe. As if we were shoveled up – like a layer of soil where dangerous sprouts grow – and moved elsewhere. Or shifted, like a Tibetan mountain. 

In this new country, I have unexpectedly found many positives. Many others share similar stories here, and I hear my native language spoken more often than back home. I am now part of a society that values respect for individual identity, language, and culture — norms that were often absent in my homeland. Growing up, speaking my language publicly could provoke suspicion or hostility, as cultural expression was seen as a threat.

Now, at an age comparable to those who once challenged me, I witness the collapse of my old world and reflect on the complex identities and conflicts involved. Themes such as colonialism, raised during the forum, resonate deeply. Even in progressive countries, as I understood from the speech of the director of the Sámi Museum Siida, echoes of these issues persist. Our own cultural experience is still largely unexamined and unaddressed.

Attending the forum, I did not grasp everything said — the language and concepts were sometimes difficult for me. Yet, I appreciated the presentations showcasing museum work grounded in mutual understanding, intercultural dialogue, and communication. Still, I struggle with the question: how can such dialogue succeed with those who deny our right to exist? Are their fears justified? Can there be dialogue where one party refuses even to acknowledge the other’s existence? Am I ready for such dialogue myself? Or do we sometimes need symbolic acts of assertion and recognition of identity to build a sustainable society?

These questions and reflections stayed with me long after the forum ended. Even in exile, I continue working in the museum field, striving to build cultural initiatives for our community abroad. Naturally, I wish I could do this work in my homeland.

During one presentation, a fishing boat appeared on the screen — a winning project in the competition. It made me think of a unique train back home, running its final journey through remote villages. This train could have been a beautiful museum project symbolizing connection and history. But will it ever?