EMYA 2025 NOMINEES

GRAZ, AUSTRIA

SALON STOLZ

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Located in a quiet neighbourhood near the Graz city centre, the newly opened Salon Stolz offers a playful discovery of music for families and children. An inclusive and interactive museum for everyone, visitors can discover music and breathe new life into the works of Graz conductor and composer Robert Stolz. Through the Salon’s workshops, exhibitions, and multisensory spaces, visitors of all ages and backgrounds can learn about classical music, play melody memory or build sound spaces, and experience music through different senses – feel braille musical notations, join a dance floor, play game tables, move around barrier-free to a rhythm sensor for hearing impaired visitors. Performance also plays a central role in the Salon’s regular programming of its Dance Theatre, “Melodia”, where dancers tell the story of Robert Stolz through dance.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

WIEN MUSEUM

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The Wien Museum on Karlsplatz has been Vienna’s popular city museum since 1959. Its recent renovations and extensions have almost doubled its size and further developed its exhibition and educational programmes. The new Wien Museum aims to be an open house committed to a pluralistic, cosmopolitan, and progressive society. Its expanded permanent exhibition, Vienna. My History, brings visitors closer to present-day Vienna and its recent transformation, character, and challenges. The museum has also developed new outreach programmes, a new collection policy focused on everyday culture, and a Community Gallery, which presents content co-created with local communities. More than a city museum, Wien Museum seeks to be a cultural resource and an inspiring place for everyone living in Vienna or visiting the city. Its public viewing terrace also offers a new and free attraction in the heart of Vienna.

ODENSE, DENMARK

CARL NIELSEN MUSEUM

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Placed inside the Odense Concert Hall, in the heart of the city centre, the new Carl Nielsen Museum showcases the life and work of celebrated Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Taking a fresh approach to biographical museums, the Carl Nielsen places music front and centre and invites visitors to immerse themselves in the composer’s music. The museum offers an interactive, free-flowing experience, encouraging visitors to engage with the music and visual stimuli on display through a playful, tactile, and digital discovery of recordings of Nielsen’s work. Its educational programmes aimed at visitors aged 5-16 focus on participants’ emotions created by the music. Its programmes also stretch outside the museum’s walls, including the Carl Nielsen’s Camino Walk – a new hiking route between Odense and Faaborg, during which hikers can experience 40 unique audio narratives on a 110 km walking route with new interpretations of Carl Nielsen’s music.

AARHUS, DENMARK

FOUNDATION MUSEUM OVARTACI

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The Foundation Museum Ovartaci is the only art museum in Denmark dedicated to artists with mental health issues. The museum is designed in a new concrete brutalist building within the ‘Kulturhus Bunkeren’ culture hub, a new business area in the northern part of Aarhus, next to the University Hospital. The permanent exhibition presents the collection of Louis Marcussen, also known as Ovartaci, who spent over fifty years as a patient in the Psychiatric Hospital in Risskov, near Aarhus. Visitors learn about Ovartaci’s life and works, which serve as a premise for mental health education, prompting questions intended to champion received ideas on mental illness. The museum promotes social interaction and participation, irrespective of background, diagnosis or beliefs, as pivotal to mental well-being. It offers various activities for children and young visitors through partnerships within the cultural and health sectors, including a creative workshop for vulnerable people. The museum is also operated mainly by a team of part-time workers with different forms of physical or mental disability.

NISSAN-LEZ-ENSÉRUNE, FRANCE

ENSÉRUNE, OPPIDUM AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

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Dated around 575 BC, Ensérune is a fortified city – an Oppidum – perched on a hillside whose steep slopes offered natural protection. This type of settlement is typical of the Iron Age (850 to 50 BC). The site was classified as a national monument in 1936 and recently reopened to the public in 2022 following major renovations. The Oppidum archaeological site and the newly redesigned Archaeological Museum of Ensérune offer a renewed visitor experience and scenography that broaden the understanding of the city’s key role in the area between 575 BC and AD 200. This includes a new visitor path and a presentation of the 500 tombs at its necropolis, revealing a rich collection of Greek and Iberian vases and a significant collection of Celtic weapons. New exhibition and cultural mediation content highlight the site as an essential hub for past cultural dialogue and interconnections between the Celtic, Greek, Asian, Iberian, Etruscan, and Roman worlds. The site’s panoramic views also offer visitors different perspectives of regional landscapes, including the Clape uplands, the Via Domitia Roman Road, the Canal du Midi and the drained lake of Montady.

PARIS, FRANCE

NATIONAL NAVY MUSEUM

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The National Navy Museum in Paris houses one of the world’s oldest collections, covering over 250 years of French maritime and naval history. The museum is part of a multi-site institution which includes several outposts in Paris (including the conservation and resource centre in Seine-Saint-Denis, on the Atlantic coast (in Brest, Port-Louis, and Rochefort), and the Mediterranean coast (Toulon). The National Navy Museum combines art, history, science, technology, and popular traditions to explore links between land and sea, history and legend, and past and future. Its exhibitions address maritime cultural heritage, stories of the navy, the life and work of sailors, and maritime legends and heroes. Its new concept promotes an interactive and inclusive approach to visitor learning using innovative and immersive technologies. The new Trocadero site has also been designed to serve as a venue for research and a hub for international scientific exchanges.

CHAMBÉRY, FRANCE

SAVOISIEN MUSEUM

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Savoisien Museum is a regional history museum in the heart of Chambéry, France. The newly refurbished museum reopened its doors in 2023 with a new permanent exhibition housed in a renovated and fully accessible 13th-century Franciscan convent. Its new exhibition and education programmes tell the region’s story from geopolitical, economic, political, social and cultural perspectives, from the Paleolithic to the present day. The museum promotes the unique geopolitical position of Savoie as a central regional hub for the configuration of modern European states such as France, Italy and Switzerland. This allows it to explore key contemporary challenges such as diversity, migration, urbanisation and industrialisation. Its public programmes, including newly redesigned meeting spaces, workshops and activities for young audiences, focus on promoting the museum as a place of dialogue, debate and cultural exchange.

BERLIN, GERMANY

DEUTSCHLANDMUSEUM

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A new history museum in the Mitte district of Berlin, Deutschlandmuseum presents twelve defining moments from different phases of German history – from the uprising of the Germanic tribes against the Romans in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 to the summer fairy tale of 2006. Through a playful and immersive visitor experience, its exhibition spaces aim to reduce barriers to learning, irrespective of age, generation, or educational background. The museum relies on multisensory storytelling that combines visual storytelling, sounds, smells, haptics and projections, and methods in serious gaming to help design quiz installations and promote enquiry-based learning. Exhibitions also feature life-size and richly detailed backdrops of German sites, including a medieval castle, a baroque printer’s room and the Berlin S-Bahn.

ATHENS, GREECE

MARIA CALLAS MUSEUM

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The new Maria Callas Museum was inaugurated in a three-story neoclassical house in downtown Athens in 2023. It is the first museum dedicated to the world-renowned singer’s life and work. The museum aims to convey Calla’s artistic personality and present her work to a broad audience, especially those unfamiliar with opera. Visitors are immersed in the world of the opera singer. Through texts, objects, videos, and rare sound clips, the life and career of Maria Callas unfolds. The Museum includes details of her upbringing in Greece, her international career and major roles, her worldly life, her personality, the moments and people of her life, and the legacy she left behind.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

HOUSE OF MUSIC HUNGARY

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The House of Music Hungary (HoM) is a new cultural complex in the City Park of Budapest whose aim is to bring music to diverse audiences through innovative and creative learning experiences and musical performances by international and local musicians. HoM’s interactive, permanent, and temporary exhibitions present European and Hungarian music history, from rural sounds to contemporary Sinti and Roma music. HoM is an active teaching and learning space where students, residents and visitors to the city can experience sounds and music in cooperation with several European art universities, research Hungarian and European music in its documentation centre, and see indoor and outdoor live concerts in the new concert. Its outreach programmes also include a broad range of activities for schools in marginalised areas of the country. HoM’s core message is that music is inclusive and should be accessible to everyone, irrespective of education, economic status or social standing.

NAPOLI, ITALY

GALLERIE D'ITALIA – NAPOLI

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Gallerie d’Italia—Napoli was inaugurated in 2022 in the historical building of the former Banco di Napoli. It is one of four museums run by the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo. The Gallerie d’Italia group aims to promote culture in Italy and enhance the value of its artistic heritage through the bank’s collection of 35,000 works of art. The permanent collection is displayed across three themed itineraries, including presentations of Attic and Magna Grecian pottery and discovery of art history from the Neapolitan and southern areas, dating from the early 17th-century to the first decades of the 20th-century. Notable works include the Caravaggio masterpiece Martyrdom of Saint Ursula. The museum’s public programmes, workshops, café, and library aim to bridge art, history, music, and visual arts, further underscoring the bank’s commitment to enhancing society through cultural and economic enrichment.

TORINO, ITALY

GALLERIE D'ITALIA – TORINO

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Gallerie d’Italia in Palazzo Turinetti, Torino, is one of four branches of the Gallerie d’Italia museums group financed and developed by the Italian Bank Intesa Sanpaolo. The new Gallerie d’Italia—Torino offers a new urban cultural hub dedicated to photography, the visual arts and the digital world through exhibitions that address current global environmental, social and economic sustainability issues. The new building also houses the Publifoto Intesa Sanpaolo Archive, which holds nearly seven million pictures taken from the late 1930s to the 1990s by one of Italy’s leading photojournalism agencies, Publifoto. A section of the Gallerie is also dedicated to baroque paintings from the ancient Oratory of the Compagnia di San Paolo, also owned by the Bank. The transformation of the old building has created 10’000 m2 of exhibition spaces distributed across five floors to encourage new dialogue between citizens and the artistic community.

APELDOORN, THE NETHERLANDS

HET LOO PALACE

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Het Loo Palace is a historic palace and museum that documents the life and times of the Dutch royal family and the House of Orange-Nassau. It provides visitors with a glimpse into royal life through historical collections, expansive gardens, and beautiful natural surroundings. In 2023, the palace reopened to the public following extensive renovations, including a new underground extension and a water feature integrated into the architecture. The new exhibition spaces allow the museum to present a comprehensive introduction to the palace and the House of Orange, revealing the complex history and influence of the Dutch royal family in the Netherlands and beyond. With additional spaces, including a new children’s museum and temporary exhibitions, Het Loo Palace uses diverse media, digital tools, and enhanced accessibility measures to explore links between royal history and contemporary societal challenges. Het Loo Palace also inaugurated a new conservation centre that maintains strong ties with the national and international scientific and research communities.

WARFFUM, THE NETHERLANDS

OPEN AIR MUSEUM HET HOOGELAND

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Open Air Museum Het Hoogeland can be visited in the picturesque village of Warffum in the Dutch province of Groningen. Founded in 1959 and renovated and expanded in 2023, the museum tells the life and history of a rural village until 1920, whose villagers relied on the work offered by surrounding farms for their livelihood. The prosperity of local farms contributed to the region’s economic, political, and social dominance through the 19th century. The museum’s new exhibition documents the lives and stories of the villagers, exploring themes of hope and despair, challenges and resilience, tradition and change. Links are made with contemporary societal issues, such as what poverty and homelessness mean and how they are experienced in one of the world’s wealthiest countries.

ARNHEM, THE NETHERLANDS

MUSEUM ARNHEM

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Museum Arnhem reopened in 2022 with a new wing, a restored old building, and a sculpture park. An art and heritage museum where nature, history, and culture meet, the museum documents the city’s history through the stories and art of its residents. It features more than 25,000 works of realistic, contemporary art, jewellery and design. Its collection also includes a specific focus on work by female artists. The collection is presented to the public through a series of temporary exhibitions, where it is exhibited in dialogue with emerging and established artists. The museum’s new public spaces encourage participation and involvement from the local community. These include a studio space where exhibitions can be created with local residents and institutions and educational programmes where residents, families and children can join in creative sessions led by contemporary artists. The museum’s garden is also open free of charge to all who wish to enjoy the sculptures, the view and nature.

UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS

UMU – UNIVERSITY MUSEUM UTRECHT

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UMU–University Museum Utrecht was recently renovated and reinvented to show how scientific knowledge is created. By letting visitors discover the value of scientific methods, UMU wants visitors to experience what is unique and valuable about the way science works and the ideas behind it. Visitors get a look behind the scenes of research and become researchers themselves. UMU provides access to the academic heritage of Utrecht University and makes the importance of research visible. As part of Utrecht University, the museum attempts to go beyond knowledge transfer towards being about the scientific process itself – the impact of scientific research and increasing understanding of how science works. To this end, the museum’s exhibitions and public programmes are committed to science literacy, enquiry-based learning and active public participation.

UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDSMIFFY MUSEUM

MIFFY MUSEUM

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Miffy is an internationally recognised children’s character. The first Miffy Museum was created in 2016 and showcased the art and creativity of its creator and designer, Dick Bruna. The Miffy Museum was refurbished and reopened in 2023 with a new extension wing and a renewed pedagogical model focusing on children and parent-child relations. The museum layout and exhibition itinerary are inspired by Dick Bruna’s books and visual universe. It offers a hands-on learning experience through what is already familiar to all children during their early development years – the home, the bedroom, the playroom, the medical doctor’s office, the farm, the street, the shop. From there, everything children and adults see, touch, smell, and craft is carefully curated using the latest advances in pedagogical and educational research in child development and the highest standards for inclusivity and accessibility. The educational model builds on three pedagogical pillars: hands-on learning, social skills, and vocabulary expression, all within educational and ethical standards towards inclusivity and accessibility.

OSLO, NORWAY

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF OSLO

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The Natural History Museum is a university museum that is part of the University of Oslo. It includes the newly renovated Geological Building, a 19th-century classical building featuring objects from the museum’s collections of over 5.8 million artefacts, and the brand-new Climate House, which offers an immersive exhibition without objects. Both venues showcase exhibitions and events about nature’s diversity and the interaction between humans, nature, and climate. The museum is committed to reducing environmental impact by prioritising reuse and upcycling in the construction of the Climate House, which is also a Zero Emissions building project. The museum’s educational activities are based on research into natural diversity in the past, present, and future. Activities focus on science communication and foster understanding, wonder, and engagement in science. The museum also organises debates about current issues, including the exploitation of natural resources, climate change, and the loss of natural diversity.

STOKMARKNES, NORWAY

COASTAL EXPRESS MUSEUM

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The Coastal Express Museum (Hurtigruten Museum) is part of the Museum Nord Foundation, which operates 21 museums in North Norway. The museum is nestled by the sea on the northern coast of Hadseløya island in Stokmarknes, in Nordland county. The museum’s imposing glass structure showcases the history of MS Finnmarken from 1956 and steamship DS Finnmarken from 1912—the two Coastal Express. The museum’s collection includes historical artefacts that shaped local and Norwegian coastal history for over a century. It preserves the collective local memory and material evidence of the Coastal Express and its significance to Norwegian maritime history. Through its exhibitions and educational programmes, the museum provides valuable insights into the challenges of coastal life, showcasing the importance of the shipping industry in connecting isolated communities and the technological advancements in maritime operations. The museum relies on tourists who arrive by a modern coastal express, which stops daily for an hour on the way up North. The museum also welcomes local residents by organising cultural events and workshops.

ŁÓDŹ, POLAND

CENTRAL MUSEUM OF TEXTILES IN ŁÓDŹ

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The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź is a symbol of textile history and holds one of the largest collections of modern textiles. The museum presents exhibitions on industry, art, design, fashion, history of the region, and cultural anthropology. It holds a varied collection housed in one of Poland’s industrial architectural monuments, the Ludwik Geyer’s White Factory in Łódź. The collection consists of over 20,000 objects that illustrate the textile industry from many angles. Visitors can learn the secrets of the textile manufacturing process illustrated through the collection of textile tools and machinery and the varied designs of textiles produced on an industrial scale in the 19th and 20th centuries through the industrial fabric collection.

KRAKÓW, POLAND

MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN KRAKÓW

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The Museum of Photography (MUFO) in Kraków operates on two sites, with the main branch being in the Rakowicka district. The permanent exhibition, What Does a Photo Do?, examines photography and how people and artists use the camera to document their lives and major events. The exhibition displays how photography is used to record history, as contemporary art, as memory work on family histories, as a material object, as a captured image in a moment, and how photography accompanies us and can change our perspective. After considerable renovation, the museum opened to the public in December 2021 and is home to exhibition rooms, a café, a library and a shop.

KRAKÓW, POLAND

KRZYSZTOFORY PALACE, MUSEUM OF KRAKÓW

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Krzystofory Palace is the headquarters of the historical museums of Kraków. It is located in the city centre of Kraków on the main square. It is one of the oldest and most notable buildings in the old town. Previously, the building belonged to wealthy merchants and hosted Polish Kings. It has been part of the Museum of Kraków since 1965, and the permanent exhibition displays the history of Kraków, its people and its traditions, highlighting the annual nativity scene, one of the most culturally important traditions. In the palace, there are temporary and permanent exhibition rooms, a library and a reading room, educational rooms, a space for children, and a cafe.

BYDGOSZCZ, POLAND

“UNDER THE SWAN” PHARMACY, DEPARTMENT OF THE LEON WYCZÓŁKOWSKI DISTRICT MUSEUM IN BYDGOSZCZ

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The Pharmacy ‘Under the Swan’ is an integral department of the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum and was opened in December 2022 with a focus on the care and preservation of objects and the history of pharmacy in the city of Bydgoszcz. Situated on the site of the third oldest Pharmacy (1853) in Bydgoszcz, visitors see up close a prescription room, a library, a herbal room and a galena laboratory – transporting them to the skills of the pharmaceutical practice of the past. The museum’s collection includes prints, medical diplomas, 19th-century herb books, and medical utensils and instruments. On the corridor walls, recipes, pharmaceutical catalogue numbers and other documents from the field of pharmacy and medicine are displayed. The Galenic pharmacy laboratory from the 19th century has remained unchanged for over 100 years, showing the medicine production up to the 1950s. Some practices have changed over the years, but the need for medicine has remained unchanged.

GDAŃSK, POLAND

MUSEUM OF AMBER, DEPARTMENT OF MUSEUM OF GDAŃSK

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At the Museum of Amber, visitors embark on a captivating journey through the ages, exploring the multifaceted role of amber across science, art, and history. The museum reopened to the public in 2021, offering expanded exhibition spaces, state-of-the-art educational facilities, and an amber conservation and research laboratory. The museum presents a kaleidoscopic view of amber’s significance in the natural realm, and the ancient amber specimens highlight the earth’s geological story, including a glimpse of prehistoric life. Visitors will learn how amber is formed and extracted and how it has been used over time. Notably, the Museum of Amber boasts in its collection the largest amber chunk recognised in the Guinness World Record.

PORTIMÃO, PORTUGAL

ALVOR LIFEBOAT INTERPRETATION CENTER

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The Alvor Lifeguard Interpretative Centre (CISA) opened in 2023 in a former lifeguard station. Alvor is a coastal village where fishing was once the primary source of livelihood. The lifeguard station symbolises the community’s commitment to protecting fishermen and battling the dangers of life at sea. The museum’s permanent exhibition tells the story of Alvor’s maritime community, revealing the daily lives of the men and women who today continue to make their living from fishing. It explores the journey from when they relied on rowing and sailing boats, guided by the North Star, to today’s challenges in an unpredictable sea with changing climate and ocean ecosystems. Created in cooperation with the village and the Museum of Portimão, the museum collects and presents the materials collected by and with residents. It serves both as a museum and community centre, promoting traditional artisanal fishing, preserving endangered skills, and offering visitors a glimpse into the heart of the place through the personal stories of local people.

PORTO, PORTUGAL

SERRALVES MUSEUM

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The Serralves Museum is a contemporary art museum in Porto’s Serralves Park. The building opened in 1999 and is managed by the Serralves Foundation. In 2023, the museum’s new expansion opened, integrating with the landscape of Serralves Park as if it were a natural extension—like a new branch growing from a tree. The museum’s three floors and park showcase the Serralves Collection and architecture through temporary exhibitions, performances, and educational and public programmes that foster a greater appreciation of contemporary art and culture. The Serralves Museum aims to serve as a vibrant cultural, architectural, and ecological institution dedicated to art, education, sustainability, and community engagement by promoting inclusion, accessibility, and reflection on the relationship between art and the environment and promoting the work of contemporary Portuguese artists.

VAD, ROMANIA

COLLECTIVE MEMORY POINT

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An hour away from Cluj Napoca, in the countryside of Transylvania, the Collective Memory Point was inaugurated in 2024 as a new multidisciplinary space documenting the memory of the local people related to the traditions, habits and occupations in the countryside of Vad commune. The local stories have been collected and showcased in collaboration with the local community and an artist in residence. The exhibition spaces encourage an interactive and sensory experience of the current and past life of the Vad community through olfactory stations and themed rooms exploring topics such as spirituality, food practices and childhood in rural life. The museum aims to encourage the Vad community to realise the touristic value of their stories and instill a strong sense of pride and belonging. Likewise, it seeks to offer tourists a meaningful experience of rural life through an imaginary journey in time and space.

LANZAROTE, SPAIN

HOUSE OF THE VOLCANOES

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House of the Volcanoes, Lanzarote, is Spain’s first volcanology museum. Located in the Natural Park of Malpaís de la Corona on a volcanic tube in the section known as Jameos del Agua, it explores Lanzarote’s volcanic origins. The new museum integrates the visiting complex of Jameos del Agua and the Cueva de los verdes, a geological hole that originated after the eruption of the La Corona volcano. The site was transformed in 1968 by local painter and sculptor César Manrique into an artistic creation (“nature art”) and the island’s first art, culture and tourism centre. House of the Volcanoes provides further context and information on the island’s volcanic origin and its current and past geological and scientific activities, together with the role of Manrique in shaping a vision for the island as an artistic hub. The museum’s exhibition uses overlapping narrative layers, bringing together César Manrique’s artistic vision and advocacy for environmental sustainability and the voices and work of national and international research scientists. This makes House of the Volcanoes a dynamic hub for art and science dialogue.

MULA, SPAIN

MUSEUM OF IBERIAN ART EL CIGARRALEJO

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Located in the village of Mula, just 30 km from Murcia, the Museum of Iberian Art El Cigarralejo promotes Iberian culture through its collection of artefacts recovered from the Iberian site of El Cigarralejo. The museum is housed in a beautifully restored 17th-century mansion that has been adapted to serve as a modern museum. Its new first floor introduces visitors to the museum’s collection and the nearby archaeological site. The new exhibition offers a comprehensive presentation of Iberian art and history, focusing on Iberian people and their interactions with the landscape and animals, especially horses. Newly designed educational programmes target children and young adults in a playful and hands-on discovery of Iberian culture through summer and winter camps and creative workshops.

MADRID, SPAIN

THE HOUSE OF ARCHITECTURE

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The House of Architecture is located in what’s known as the Arquería de Nuevos Ministerios (a part of one of the buildings in the Ministry of Transport) in central Madrid. The arcade buildings have been renovated to welcome the House of Architecture and host temporary exhibitions that explore the explosion of architecture and urbanism in Spain from the post-dictatorship period to the present. As a national museum, it showcases different Spanish territories and their regional architectural identities and cultures, documenting the past and anticipating its future, along with information about urban planning and landscaping in Spain. The museum also seeks to promote and enhance the principle of architectural quality, recognising its impact on the built environments of towns and cities and its ability to make them more sustainable and resilient. It advocates for quality architecture and its contribution to individuals’ well-being and health without compromising future generations’ expectations.

BILBAO, SPAIN

HOUSE OF THE BASQUE LANGUAGE. EUSKARAREN ETXEA

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The House of the Basque Language (Euskararen Etxea) and its Basque Language Interpretation Centre is a unique cultural space dedicated to the Basque language, its history, and the stories of its resilience and identity. The museum focuses on the Basque language’s intangible heritage, offering visitors an immersive experience that goes beyond objects to reflect the deep emotions, challenges, and resistance tied to the Basque culture. It provides an opportunity to explore the Basque language’s significance, evolution, and role in fostering community. The Centre is committed to accessibility, offering its content in Basque, Spanish, French, and English. This multilingual approach ensures that a diverse audience can engage with the exhibition and emphasises the interconnectedness of European languages and cultures. The Centre encourages visitors to explore the similarities and mutual influence between languages, providing a deeper understanding of European linguistic diversity.

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN

MEDICAL HISTORY MUSEUM

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The Medical History Museum in Gothenburg belongs to Sahlgrenska University Hospital. It is in the Oterdahl House, which Sahlgrenska Hospital received in 1808 as a gift for all time from the wealthy wholesale merchant Aron Oterdahl. The building was used as a hospital from 1823–54. The museum reopened in 2023 after four years of renovation. It now presents a new permanent exhibition and operates a new temporary exhibition space. The museum’s permanent exhibition, Fire and Blood, depicts Gothenburg’s history of medicine over 400 years, from the first hospitals and Sahlgren’s will through revolutionary medical successes to the expansive construction projects of the post-war period. The exhibition follows some of the healthcare professions and places throughout history. It shows the efforts that Gothenburg as a city and Sweden as a country make to develop and improve the health of the population. With this exhibition, the museum also underscores its vision to work with and showcase past and present healthcare professions and encourage young people to choose to work in healthcare.

SOLOTHURN, SWITZERLAND

ENTER TECHNIKWELT SOLOTHURN

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Located in an industrial park in the city of Solothurn, Enter Technikwelt Solothurn is Switzerland’s largest interactive museum for analogue and digital technology. Its collection of nearly 30,000 items covers anything from computer, radio, and television technologies to the history of printing and classic cars. The collection was brought together by the museum founder, Felix Kunz, a telecommunications engineer and entrepreneur born in Solothurn. The new building of 10,000 m2 opened to the public in 2023 with permanent and temporary exhibitions that present the history and evolution of technologies, Swiss innovation, and the social implications of rapid technological advancement. To reach an audience of all ages, the museum’s events and workshops encourage dialogue between diverse groups interested in science and technology.

LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS, SWITZERLAND

MUZOO

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MUZOO was reopened in 2022 following major renovations that combine a natural history museum and a zoological garden to create a unique, entertaining and informative learning experience. Its sites include a zoological garden, a public park, and the main museum, forming a museological space to explore the complex relationship between people and their environment through a visitor experience that offers direct contact with other animals, naturalised or living. Its permanent and temporary exhibitions address biodiversity and sustainability. At the same time, the use and curatorship of its natural spaces and management of the municipal park aim to bring new attitudes about animal welfare, inviting community members to care for local animals.

GENEVE, SWITZERLAND

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE REFORMATION

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Founded in 2005, the International Museum on the Reformation (MIR) is housed in the former cloister of Geneva Cathedral, built in 1723. The museum reopened in 2023 following two years of renovations, which included a new public entrance, visitor experience and temporary exhibition spaces. MIR traces the history of the Protestant Reformation, adopted by the Genevese in 1536, through a collection of 500 paintings, engravings, manuscripts, books, objects, musical and audiovisual devices. The new museum privileges a secular approach to learning about five centuries of the development of the Reformation through a history of the mindset and influences in society, politics, culture and the arts. Interactive maps, timelines and audiovisual materials enable visitors to navigate Protestantism’s multilayered origins, history and chronology.

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND

GLACIER GARDEN LUCERNE

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The Glacier Garden was created in 1873 by the Amrein-Troller family as a private tourist site to explore a network of glacier potholes discovered a year earlier. The glacier potholes were formed in the Ice Age, and evidence of fossilised mussels, sea shells, and palm leaves indicates that the area was a subtropical beach about 20 million years ago. The site reopened to the public in 2022 to include a newly redesigned garden, museum and labyrinth. The garden has a variety of tall trees and a network of paths through which visitors can see the various flower beds. Among the garden’s installations are the glacier potholes and strange-shaped rocks. In the new underground labyrinth, the ‘Felsenwelt’, visitors experience 20 million years of the earth’s history and links between its landscapes and climate change. The museum also offers multimedia exhibitions and presentations.

ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE

İŞBANK MUSEUM OF PAINTING-SCULPTURE

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The İşbank Museum of Painting and Sculpture is located on Istiklal Street, one of Istanbul’s busiest pedestrian streets. Funded by Türkiye’s first private bank, İşbank, the museum is housed in the historical Boudouy Apartment, which was built in 1907 and which served as a branch of İşbank from 1953 to 2016. Established by İşbank in 2004, the museum’s collection includes paintings, sculptures, and drawings by prominent Turkish artists. In 2020, the museum underwent substantial renovations and reopened in 2023 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye. Since then, it has hosted the inaugural permanent exhibition, Observing Turkish Art, showcasing a diverse collection of works from the late 19th-century to the present. Along with its temporary exhibitions and public programmes, the museum aims to promote art appreciation to broad audiences. Its architecture combines modern design with historical elements, creating a unique and welcoming environment for art lovers and the general public.

BODRUM, TÜRKIYE

BODRUM UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM

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Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum is located in Bodrum Castle (Castle of St. Peter), which was built by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem early in the 15th-century. The museum has been a pioneer in underwater archaeology, conducting the first-ever underwater excavations in the world during the 1960s. The museum aims to preserve, exhibit, and promote the rich underwater collection to broad audiences. It collaborates actively with national and international institutions and underwater archaeology researchers, conducting joint projects to sustain and expand scientific research. The museum is also responsible for preserving the Bodrum Castle as a monumental cultural heritage site, listed in the UNESCO Tentative List.

ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE

ISTANBUL MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

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Istanbul Modern was founded in 2004 as Türkiye’s first modern and contemporary art museum. Its new building opened on the shores of the Bosphorus River in 2023. With over 10,500 m2, Istanbul Modern offers several temporary exhibition spaces, new interdisciplinary educational programmes for all audiences, and film screenings. Its permanent art collection spans the period of 1945 to the present and features works by national and international artists who reflect Türkiye’s artistic creativity and historical and social contexts. The museum also aims to serve as a platform for emerging artists and a venue for innovative exhibitions, encouraging new conversations on the evolving nature of culture and society in Türkiye and beyond. Its commitment to bridging local and international art practices plays a central role in its efforts to position the museum as a vital cultural institution in Istanbul.

LUTSK, UKRAINE

KORSAK'S MUSEUM OF UKRAINIAN MODERN ART

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The Korsak’s Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art, located within Lutsk’s Adrenaline City cultural and entertainment complex, is dedicated to promoting Ukrainian art and deepening cultural and artistic appreciation. Its mission is to transform the past, reflect the present, and shape the future while elevating Ukrainian art on the European and global stages. As the largest museum of contemporary Ukrainian art, its four floors and fifteen exhibition halls display the work of more than 300 prominent Ukrainian artists. The permanent collection includes more than 700 artworks across different periods from the 20th and 21st centuries, including realism, socialist realism, modernism, abstraction, and surrealism. The museum seeks to connect Ukrainian contemporary art with the broader European art scene in the context of Ukraine’s European integration. It focuses on rediscovering forgotten Ukrainian artists and facilitating discussions about the impact of totalitarianism on artistic expression. The exhibitions encourage visitors to consider art’s profound role in society and reconsider its potential to foster free thought and diverse perspectives.

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

MANCHESTER MUSEUM

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Manchester Museum, operated by the University of Manchester, is housed in a neo-Gothic building at the heart of the university campus. Home to around 4.5 million objects ranging from natural sciences to human cultures, the museum has been a centre for learning and research for over 130 years. The museum reopened to the public in 2023 following major renovations aimed at enhancing accessibility and offering new spaces to foster stronger community connections and promote cultural understanding. The renovations also allowed the museum to redefine its mission, having increasingly confronted its complex history, including its colonial legacy. The museum’s new exhibition spaces aim to open its collections and resources to everyone. As a university museum, Manchester Museum seeks to play a key role in research, as well as in social responsibility and social justice. Galleries and spaces are co-curated with various local and diaspora communities to incorporate different perspectives on its exhibition content and collections.

NORWICH, UNITED KINGDOM

SAINSBURY CENTRE

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Founded in 1973 as part of the University of East Anglia, the Sainsbury Centre cares for one of the UK’s most globally significant art collections. Housed in one of Norman Foster’s groundbreaking architectural buildings, the collection transcends the traditional divides between contemporary art, anthropological objects and archaeological artefacts, spanning 6000 years of human history and creativity. In 2023, the Sainsbury Centre redefined its mission to embrace a new model for the 21st-century art museum. Through its ‘Living Art Sharing Stories’ vision, its permanent displays, exhibition programming, learning approach, collecting and visitor experience have all been reinvented as part of seeing art as alive and animate – it is an invitation to see people forming a personal relationship with art through analogue and digital pathways. The new temporary exhibition also addresses the big questions people have in their lives today, such as What is Truth? The Sainsbury Centre also embraces participation to diversify and extend its audiences, bringing in new voices.