THE HAGUE.- The European Museum Academy announces the Art Museum Award, a new annual award specifically designed for art museums and galleries throughout Europe. The Art Museum Award is dedicated to honour and highlight museum projects that work with art in an innovative, pioneering and creative way in order to address or respond to current social issues that are a major challenge to our contemporary society. With this new award, the European Museum Academy aims to identify new role models of excellence that could function as inspiring paragons of the social role and relevance of art museums and galleries. The first museum or gallery to be awarded will be in 2021. This is the only award of its kind on a European level.

The focus of the Art Museum Award is on the role that art museums and galleries can play as socially relevant meeting places. The COVID-19 Pandemic even raised the question more of how socially relevant culture is in turbulent times of crisis. The answer to this question is not unambiguous and can be achieved in many different ways. Therefore, a range of criteria such as encouraging innovation, proving social responsibility, strengthening participation and inclusion, propelling sustainability and stimulating public discourse has been set. An international panel of experts within the museum field will judge the entries on these criteria. Candidates can compete as such or apply with a special (temporary) programme.

Karl Borromäus Murr, Chairman of the Board of the European Museum Academy: “We believe that museums in general and art museums and galleries in particular can support positive social change. With core values as dialogue, awareness, inclusion, openness and accessibility, they are ideal places for change makers (socially, politically). With this new Art Museum Award, we aim to create awareness on the social role and relevance of art museums and galleries and stimulate the debate over their role in and impact on society.”

Art museums and galleries will be invited to apply via www.artmuseumaward.eu. The closing date for applications is 31 March 2021.

The European Museum Academy is a non-profit Foundation established to reflect museums at the international level, to promote research on museography and museology as a high cultural activity, to provide constructive criticism and promote discussion on new exhibitions and museums, and to disseminate museological knowledge and ideas among members of the profession. It aims to promote the conception and development of new as well as of traditional museums as tools of social change. The European Museum Academy was established in 2009 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the loss of the distinguished museologist Kenneth Hudson (1916-1999) by a group of professionals active in the museum field and the cultural sector in general.

Over the years, the European Museum Academy has developed an extensive awards scheme: the European Museum Academy Prize, the Luigi Micheletti Award, the DASA Award, the Heritage in Motion Award and the Master Study of the Year Award. The Academy is also a partner in other award schemes, including the Children in Museums Award, the Živa Award and the Museum in Short Awards. The different awards represent and emphasize different aspects of the European Museum Academy’s underlying values.