Four Belgian museums in the spotlight
Four Belgian museums have been selected for the European Museum of the Year Award. This award was established in 1977 by the European Museum Forum under the aegis of the Council of Europe. It aims to reward innovative museums that offer visitors a creative presentation and approach to education and social responsibility.
This competition is not only for large structures, as small local museums also have a chance. The proof of this can be seen in the four Belgian museums selected.
The museum of the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), which opened in 2020, and the MigratieMuseumMigration(MMM) in Molenbeek have been selected, as have the Musée L of UCLouvain, and the museum of Ghent University (GUM).
The KBR, for example, uses new technologies to allow visitors to leaf through original works dating back to the Dukes of Burgundy, but on a screen that offers the possibility of enlarging and examining the smallest details of these rich documents without damaging their conservation.
The MMM in Molenbeek is based on empathy, as visitors meet the memories and photos of men and women who left their country to come and live in Belgium, whether they were the first immigrant guest workers, war refugees, expatriates...
The European Museum of the Year Award 2022 (EMYA) will take place from 4 to 7 May at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu.
We have to go back to 2011 to see a Belgian museum rewarded - the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this year our expertise in the field of museums will be recognised.