Two Portuguese museums are among 34 finalists competing for one of Europe's most prestigious cultural prizes, the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) 2026, with winners to be announced at the annual ceremony in Bilbao. The competition culminates a week-long conference focused on breaking down access barriers to art and design.
Why This Matters
• Portugal's MUDE and Palácio Pimenta are among 34 finalists for the EMYA 2026, competing against institutions from Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, and Finland.
• Winners will be announced during the European Museum Forum's annual gala in Bilbao.
• Both Portuguese museums reopened in 2024 after extensive renovations specifically aimed at removing physical and cognitive barriers to culture.
• The theme this year—"Revolutionising the Museum: Inclusion for Everyone"—directly aligns with Portugal's recent efforts to democratize cultural access.
Two Very Different Visions of Inclusive Culture
The Portugal Museum of Design and Fashion (MUDE), housed in the renovated Banco Nacional Ultramarino building in Lisbon's historic center, reopened in July 2024 after 8 years of rehabilitation work. With a collection exceeding 18,000 pieces organized into 19 thematic nuclei, the institution focuses on multiple expressions of design across fashion, industrial aesthetics, and contemporary creativity.
Before closing for renovations, MUDE welcomed nearly 2 million visitors through approximately 60 exhibitions and 170 related events. The refreshed space now features barrier-free exhibition areas, an auditorium, a specialized design library, educational zones, and a panoramic rooftop terrace that offers sweeping views of the Portuguese capital.
Meanwhile, Palácio Pimenta—the flagship site of the Lisbon Museum network—took a different approach. This 18th-century summer palace, surrounded by gardens, reopened in September 2024 after a decade-long renovation that began in 2014. Its permanent exhibition, titled "The House Where the City Lives," traces Lisbon's evolution from prehistoric settlements through to the 21st century, mixing archaeological artifacts, everyday objects, and architectural references in a non-linear narrative structure.
The palace's 11 renovated first-floor galleries expand the geographic and chronological scope of the city's story, incorporating paintings, ceramics, engravings, maps, azulejo tiles, and archaeological finds. The museum runs programs specifically designed for families, young people, and seniors, with a particular emphasis on environmental sustainability and critical revision of historical narratives that often excluded marginalized communities.
What Inclusion Actually Looks Like in Practice
Both Portuguese institutions earned their nominations by implementing concrete accessibility measures that go beyond symbolic gestures.
At MUDE, all exhibitions now include Braille information panels for visitors with visual impairments. The 8-story building features elevators and ramps ensuring access to every floor for people with mobility limitations. The library, documentation archive, auditorium, shop, and educational services are open not just to specialists and students but to the general public without gatekeeping.
Director Bárbara Coutinho described her vision for the space as "a place of life, creativity, a meeting point and a space for reflection" that invites both individual and collective transformation. Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas framed the museum as "a journey between past and future, between the physical world and the digital world, and especially between sustainability and inclusion."
Palácio Pimenta focuses on community engagement through participatory programming. The Lisbon Museum network, which includes the palace as its main nucleus, has partnered on international projects such as the OECD and ICOM guide on culture and local development, which specifically highlighted the museum's proactive role and social impact.
What European Recognition Means for Lisbon Residents
For Lisbon residents, recognition at this level could translate into increased municipal investment in cultural infrastructure, enhanced international partnerships bringing diverse exhibitions to the city, and validation of accessibility standards that may influence other cultural venues across Portugal. An award of this prestige also strengthens Lisbon's position as a creative and culturally progressive European city, attracting both visitors and cultural professionals while reinforcing the city's commitment to inclusive cultural spaces.
The Broader European Competition
This year's EMYA conference, which brought together institutions from across the continent, presented projects and best practices in social responsibility, inclusion, and community participation. The 34 nominated museums presented their cases before an international jury, addressing the core question of how cultural spaces can challenge traditional exhibition and curatorial structures.
Among the competitors are institutions with dramatically different missions: the Seddülbahir Fortress in Turkey, the Museum of Insanity Institute in Slovenia, the La Unión Mining Museum in Spain, the Engineering and Technology Museum in Kraków, Poland, the Tsitsanis Research Center-Museum in Greece, the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre in Germany, the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music, the Malva Museum of Visual Arts in Finland, and the Budapest Ethnography Museum in Hungary.
The diversity of nominees reflects the award's expanding definition of what constitutes museum excellence—moving from collections and architecture toward community impact and barrier removal.
Portugal's Track Record in European Museum Recognition
While no Portuguese museum has ever won the main European Museum of the Year prize, Portuguese institutions have accumulated an impressive collection of related honors within the European Museum Forum awards scheme.
The Lisbon Water Museum secured the Council of Europe Prize in 1990. The Batalha Community Museum won the Kenneth Hudson Award in 2013, a special category within the EMYA framework that recognizes institutional courage and professional integrity. The Leiria Museum took home the Silletto Prize in 2017 for community participation and volunteer integration—the same award that went to the Alvor Lifeguard Interpretive Center in Portimão in 2025 for its work with local communities.
The Portimão Museum won the Council of Europe Prize in 2010. More recently, in 2024, three Portuguese institutions—the Royal Treasury Museum, the Rua dos Correeiros Archaeological Center (both in Lisbon), and the Covilhã Museum—were among 50 nominees for the main award.
Impact on Portugal's Cultural Positioning
The dual nomination of MUDE and Palácio Pimenta represents a strategic moment for Portugal's cultural sector, which has been working to position Lisbon as a creative hub competing with Barcelona, Berlin, and Copenhagen.
Both museums benefited from significant public investment through the Lisbon City Council, which created MUDE as a municipal initiative and oversees the Lisbon Museum network. The timing of their reopenings in 2024—just ahead of the EMYA nomination cycle—suggests deliberate planning to align with the European Museum Forum's evolving priorities around accessibility, participatory practices, and social responsibility.
Amina Krvavac, president of the European Museum Forum, noted in remarks published on the organization's website that museums "currently face a complex and constantly changing social landscape, marked by conflicts and increasing polarization." She emphasized that the trust these institutions still enjoy within their communities "implies an increased responsibility" to serve as welcoming spaces for reflection on contemporary society.
Established in 1977, the European Museum of the Year Award is considered one of the most prestigious distinctions in the European museology sector, recognizing institutions that stand out for innovation, quality of public experience, and contribution to the social role of museums.
The results will clarify whether Portugal's investment in inclusive cultural infrastructure resonates with the international jury—and whether either Lisbon institution can break through to claim the country's first top prize in the competition's nearly 50-year history.
