Barcelona (EFE).- The ETNO, Valencian Museum of Ethnology, has been distinguished this Saturday in Barcelona with the EMYA award (European Museum of the Year Award) for the best European museum of the year, at a gala in which it has also been recognized Hernani’s Chillida Leku.
The jury has valued that ETNO “operates with a solid ethical foundation and a passionate commitment to achieve positive change in the region, and courageously faces the past to navigate an uncertain future.”
And he adds that the Valencian museum values open and inclusive dialogue and strives to offer universal access to visitors.
By sharing and discussing hidden histories, ETNO seeks to “honor the right of local communities to understand their past and acknowledge their painful experiences.”
The EMYA Award is the most prestigious in the world of museums and has been won in previous editions by centers such as the Museum of the Mind (Haarlem, the Netherlands, 2022), the Design Museum (London, United Kingdom, 2018), the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Warsaw, Poland, 2016), the Medina Azahara Museum in Córdoba (2012), CosmoCaixa (Barcelona, 2006), the MARQ – Provincial Museum of Archeology of Alicante (2004) or the Guggenheim of Bilbao (2000), among others.
Other Spanish centers that have received EMYA awards in previous years are the Miró Foundation, the Inca Footwear and Industry Museum, the Tolosa International Puppet Center and the Descalzas Reales Convent Museum in Madrid.
Chillida Leku Museum Award
At the same EMYA awards gala, another Spanish nominee, the Chillida Leku museum, has won the Portimão Museum Award for Reception, Inclusion and Belonging, which recognizes the environment of friendly inclusion, where all the elements of the museum, its physical environment, its human qualities, its exhibitions and public programs, contribute to making everyone feel valued, respected and part of the museum.
Chillida Leku, with an active social agenda, is a museum dedicated to both the work of an artist and their core values related to human rights, social justice, music and philosophy.
The Council of Europe Prize, given to a museum that has made a significant contribution to upholding human rights and democratic citizenship, broadening knowledge and understanding of contemporary social issues, and building bridges between cultures by fostering intercultural dialogue or going beyond social and political borders, has fallen this year to the Museum of the Workers of Copenhagen.
The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity has gone to 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, from Turkey; The Silletto Award for Community Engagement and Participation has recognized the work of the Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archaeological Museum at the National Museum of Georgia, a community-run community-run force in raising awareness of critical issues related to society, culture and education .
The Meyvaert Museum Award for Environmental Sustainability has distinguished the Swiss Museum of Agriculture, where visitors engage with their local community through a variety of fun and hands-on learning activities that illuminate the food journey from farm to table.
In addition to these main prizes, the EMYAs have awarded six special mentions to museums that have developed a new and innovative approach to specific aspects of their public service and from which other European museums can learn:
- Thackray Museum of Medicine, UK
- Ilia Chavchavadze Literary Memorial Museum in Tblisi, Georgia
- Graz Schlossberg Museum, Austria
- FeliXart Museum of Belgium
- Payerne abbey church in Switzerland
- Depósito Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Países Bajos.