The Portimão Museum Prize, for the most welcoming museum in Europe, was awarded this Saturday, and for the first time, in Sarajevo, to the museum Brunel's SS Great Britain, located in Bristol, UK..
The award, sponsored by the Municipality of Portimão, was presented, at the ceremony held in the capital of Bosnia-Herzgovina, by José Gameiro, scientific director of the Portimão Museum and member of the international jury of the EMYA awards.
“One of people's deepest intuitions is whether they are welcome. The main quality that the Award celebrates is a general and friendly welcoming atmosphere. All elements of the museum – its human qualities and physical environment – contribute to the feeling of welcome, as do events and activities in and around the museum», explains the European Museum Forum.
Regarding the museum dedicated to the ship SS Great Britain by Brunel, it is an independent structure dedicated to the visitor. The EMF stresses that “the main values of the museum are surprise, authenticity, fascination, excellence and relevance. These are expressed in all aspects of their work, particularly in the quality of welcome offered to visitors by their staff and highly trained and enthusiastic volunteers».
The SS Great Britain was the first transatlantic ship to have an iron hull and propeller, and when launched in 1843, it was the largest ship of the time, even considered "the greatest experiment since Creation".
Today, one of the most important historic ships in the world, its construction, in a dry dock specially made in the port of Bristol, resulted from the genius of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who combined size, power and innovative technology.
The Museum, which is housed in a building specially designed to house it, is located next to the ship, which, since 1970, has been on the dock where it was originally built. An access bridge leads to the historic and listed office building on this dock, which had been the headquarters of the Great Western Steamship Company and also hosted Brunel's studio.
In March of last year, the museum opened a new wing called «Being Brunel/Being Brunel», with a permanent exhibition that, through 60 thousand artefacts, archival material and interactive contents, presents the life of Brunel and his achievements, in the context of maritime history.
At the same ceremony in Sarajevo, the most important European award, the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA, the acronym of the name in English European Museum of the Year Award) was awarded to the 'Rijksmuseum Boerhaave' located in Leiden, the Netherlands.
“The exceptional public quality of this museum results from its ingenious approach to communicating science. Important and beautiful objects are interpreted using the latest technologies and the personal stories of those driven by a passion for the pursuit of knowledge. The result is science with a human face, inspiring curiosity and wonder, engaging the general public in debates on important scientific and ethical issues of our time,” explains the EMF.
The Council of Europe Museum Prize 2019 was awarded to the Communication Museum in Bern, Switzerland, “for the creative way in which it promotes media literacy in the service of responsible citizenship in a functioning democracy. More than a showcase of objects, it is a laboratory of social interactions, new relationships, creative processes and a meeting place for people of all ages to explore and discuss vital issues related to communication in contemporary culture, history, politics and ideology» .
For its part, the Museum of the World (Weltmuseum), from Vienna (Austria), was awarded the Kenneth Hudson Prize, “in recognition of the most unusual and daring achievement that challenges common perceptions of the role of museums in society. Few European museums address the colonial past in depth or address its continuing legacy in the XNUMXst century. With a unique intellectual honesty, the Weltmuseum recognizes the dilemmas embedded in its collections and strives to create a new identity as a contemporary museum that celebrates the planet's culture of abundance and promotes respect for human rights, integration and intercultural coexistence».
The Silletto Prize recognized the St. George Shipwreck Museum (Strandingsmuseum St. George), located in Thorsminde, Denmark. It rewards “excellence in working with the local community and involving volunteers. O Strandingsmuseum St.George it is exemplary for its compelling narrative, elegant presentation and use of natural materials, but even more so for its deep relationship with its local community, which has been at the heart of the creation and operation of this museum».
The Special Mention for Sustainability was awarded to the World Nature Forum, in Switzerland.
The 2019 Special Mentions were, in turn, awarded to the Apoxyomenos Museum (Croatia), the House of European History and the Plantin-Moretus Museum (both in Belgium), the Moesgaard Museum (Denmark), the Verdun Memorial (France). ), the Szczecin National Museum and the Pana Tadeusza Museum (both in Poland).
Comments