L'ETNO: award for the best European museum of 2023

The Valencia Museum of Ethnology, L’ETNO, which collects, studies and disseminates popular and traditional Valencian culture, has received the award for best European museum of 2023. The EMYA (European Museum of the Year Award) is part of the European Museum Forum, which this year had 33 aspiring centers from 18 European countries.

L’ETNO was named the winner because it is an institution with a strong ethical principle and an exciting commitment, which bravely confronts the past and seeks to address the right of local communities to understand their past and recognize their experiences. The organization also highlighted its work to maintain an open and inclusive dialogue and to offer universal access to visitors.

The museum, which shares the Beneficencia Building with the Museum of Prehistory, is far removed from the conventional commercial museum concept. At its core, this project's vocation is to serve society, and its collections seek to provide citizens with knowledge and well-being. Its permanent exhibit entitled "It's not easy being Valencian" addresses the debate of identity through objects, documents, photographs and personal testimonies. A permanent debate between an increasingly culturally homogeneous world and the desire to maintain customs and practices that are considered personal and that are rooted in a land and a society. 

In addition to L’ETNO, Chillida Leku in Hernani won the Portimao Prize, and rounding out the winners are the Copenhagen Workers' Museum (Denmark), the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory (Turkey), the Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archaeological Museum (Georgia) and the Swiss Museum of Agriculture.

These awards are a way to acknowledge the fundamental role that museums play as social drivers, with the winners gaining international prestige, especially in Europe.