Tip of the day – European Museum of the Year Awards 2025 & Maria Callas Museum in Athens

The European Museum Forum is happy to announce the winners of the European Museum of the Year Awards for 2025. The winners in different categories under the EMYA scheme were presented on the last day of the EMYA2025 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony that was held on 21-25 May 2025 in Białystok.

Organised by the European Museum Forum and hosted by the Sybir Memorial Museum, the winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2025, the event took place in a traditional EMYA format with a physical, rich and intense annual conference and award ceremony and brought together members of the EMYA community including this year’s nominees, former winners, partners and friends.

This year, the main theme of the conference was defined as “Remembrance and Solidarity for Collective Action”.

We warmly congratulate the winners in each category and express our deep gratitude to all 42 nominated museums for placing their trust in EMYA—both through their applications and by generously welcoming the judges during their visits. Special thanks go to the Sybir Memorial Museum, our host this year, to our partners for their continued support of EMF, and to all the participants who joined us in Poland and helped bring the event to life.

See you in Bilbao next year for EMYA2026, which will be hosted by Euskararen Etxea (The House of the Basque Language), winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2025, in cooperation with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.

The EMYA – European Museum of the Year Award:
Manchester Museum, Manchester, UK

The Winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2025:
Euskararen Etxea, the House of the Basque Language, Bilbao, SPAIN

The Winner of the Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity 2025:
Nini Sanadiradze, former General Director of The Union of Tbilisi Museums, Tbilisi, GEORGIA

The Winner of the Meyvaert Museum Prize for Environmental Sustainability 2025:
MUZOO, La Chaux-de-Fonds, SWITZERLAND

The Winner of the Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion and Belonging 2025:
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art; Istanbul, TÜRKİYE

The Winner of the Silletto Prize for Community Participation and Engagement 2025:
The Alvor Lifeguard Interpretative Centre (CISA), Portimão, PORTUGAL

The Special Commendations: 

Special Commendations are given to museums that have developed a new and innovative approach in specific aspects of their public service and from which other European museums can learn. Seven special commendations were given by the Jury in 2025.

• Foundation Museum Ovartaci, Aarhus, DENMARK
• The Korsak’s Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art, Lutsk, UKRAINE
• İşbank Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Istanbul, TÜRKIYE
• The House of Music Hungary (HoM), Budapest, HUNGARY
• Wien Museum, Vienna, AUSTRIA
• Maria Callas Museum, Athens, GREECE
  The sixth commendation goes to a museum whose innovative scenography powerfully and skillfully captures the theatricality and performance that defined a world-renowned singer’s career and primary artistic expression. Visitors are immersed in the world of the opera singer through texts, objects, videos, and rare sound clips, as the life and career of Maria Callas unfold.
• Arnhem Museum, THE NETHERLANDS

Congratultions to Maria Callas Museum!