The European Museum of the Year Award 2025 nominees have been released and Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, has been nominated.
The European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) was created in 1977 to support and acknowledge the excellence of museums within Europe.
EMYA honours newly established or redeveloped museums that showcase “the best in excellence” and pioneering innovation in their domain.
The award also seeks to celebrate museums that foster cross-cultural exchange and actively engage with their communities.
Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum, said: “This nomination means an awful lot to the whole team at Manchester Museum because it recognises our efforts to make this a place where everyone belongs. The Museum’s redevelopment was about much more than just bricks and mortar, it was about transforming our spaces and our approach to ensure we’re the museum our city and communities need us to be”.
The EMYA recognises museums which “contribute profoundly to our understanding of the world as well as to the development of new paradigms and professional standards in museums”.
The nominees are either newly established museums that have opened in the last three years or existing museums that have undergone redevelopment, modernisation, or extensions of their buildings and galleries.
In 2023, Manchester Museum underwent a £15 million redevelopment which has been described as “the most ambitious museum transformation in a generation”.
Other award categories include Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity, Community Participation and Engagement, Environmental Sustainability, and Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging.
The award ceremony will take place in Białystok, Poland from 21 to 25 May 2025.
