THE 2013 CHILDREN’S MUSEUM AWARD

Posted March 30, 2013 by artBahrain in

in Philadelphia Triumphs!

In a glittering ceremony in the Salla della Cultura at the Museum of the History of Bologna, the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, USA was announced as the winner off the 2013 Children’s Museum Award. The trophy was presented to Lynn McMaster by the President of the Carisbo Foundation, Professor Fabio Roversi Monaco. The meeting was held with the co-operation of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and with the support of the Carisbo Bank Foundation-Genus Bononiae.

The judges said:

The commitment of the Please Touch Museum to children aged 1-7 is particularly remarkable. All too often the capacity of very young children to absorb information and experiences is overlooked by museums. The theatre programme is particularly useful in this regard and learning by participation and play means that the memory retains more information than mere passive observation. Praise is also due to the activities which take place outside the walls of the museum.”

The trophy is a bronze statue of Miffy, the universally known creation of Dick Bruna, whose books are translated into more than 50 languages. The sculptor is Bruna’s son Marc, and this is the only existing scale model of the original statue in Utrecht, donated to the author’s home town by the Soroptimist Club Utrecht. Miffy stands for encouraging creativity, fantasy, freedom of thinking and child friendliness, and is a symbol which appeals to all children.

A Special Commendation was given to Drents Archief at Assen in the Netherlands. The division between museums and archives has become less clear-cut in recent years and the decision of the provincial archive at Assen to establish a permanent space to show children the functions of an archive and what its problems are is a huge step in narrowing the gap between the two. In highlighting this work the judges hope that the unusual but very effective method used by Drents Archief will encourage other archives to follow its example.

Information on the Award

The Children’s Museum Award was established by the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International for the recognition of excellence in the sector of international children’s museums. The Jury looks especially for the creative use of exhibitions and programmes with an innovative interpretative approach, which should be meaningful to the relevant age-group up to 14 years old. An important consideration is to investigate how a candidate is likely to change the course of museum thinking or museum practice in these respects, nationally and internationally.

The European Museum Academy (EMA) 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 diffuse 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. Thirty countries are currently represented within the EMA organisation. EMA co-operates with Hands On! International for this Award. EMA members of the Jury of the Award are also members of the EMA Pool of Experts. www.europeanmuseumacademy.eu.

Hands On! International (HO!I), the Association of Children’s Museums, is the professional organisation representing and advocating for its non-profit member institutions. It actively stimulates the creation and development of children’s museums (including science centres, large collections based institutions serving young visitors) and more space for cultural and educational activities for children and young people. HO!I supports the important role of children’s museums as centres where play inspires creativity, informal and lifelong learning. www.hands-on-international.net.

Confirmed candidates

Austria
Salzburg: Spielzeug Museum

Canada
Winnipeg: Manitoba Children’s Museum

Germany
Berlin: MACHmit! Museum für Kinder
Giessen: Mathematikum Giessen e.K.
Hamburg: KINDEROLYMP at Altonaer Museum

Jordan
Amman: Children’s Museum Jordan

The Netherlands
Alphen aan den Rijn: Archeon, Roman Villa Rijswijk
Assen: Drents Archief – Operatie Sigismund
Hilversum: Beeld en Geluid Experience
Rotterdam: Maritiem Museum Rotterdam
Utrecht: Dick Bruna Huis, Centraal Museum

Serbia
Novi Sad: Gallery of Matica Srpska

Sweden
Stockholm: Lill-Skansen

Switzerland
Frauenfeld: Naturmuseum Thurgau

United States
Philadelphia: Please Touch Museum

Jury members, drawn from EMA and HO!I

Arno van Berge Henegouwen, Curator, Museon, Den Haag, The Netherlands (EMA)

Camila González Gou, Curator, Museu Frederic Marès, Barcelona, Spain (EMA)

Claudia Haas, haas-consult, Vienna, Austria (HO!I)

Gail Lord, Co-President, Lord Cultural Resources, Toronto, Canada (HO!I)

Elisabeth Menasse, Director, ZOOM Kindermuseum, Vienna, Austria (HO!I)

Andreja Rihter, President, European Museum Academy, Slovenia (EMA)

Margherita Sani, Project Manager, Istituto Beni Culturali, Bologna, Italy (EMA)