The Greek National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) has been shortlisted for the prestigious European Art Museum Award, it was announced on Thursday.
The annual award, presented by the European Museum Academy, focuses on the social role of art museums and art galleries and seeks to highlight and recognise innovative practices and new ideas.
This year’s competition was of an incredibly high standard, the announcement said. The nine-person jury, comprising museum professionals from across Europe, faced a difficult choice in identifying only six of the exceptional candidates as finalists.
Democratic and human values driving new museological ideas
The European Museum Academy describes the award as built on democratic and human values, including social justice, participation, inclusion, gender equality, racial justice, community building, sustainability, and resilience – values which must drive new museological ideas. It aims to identify new role models and models of excellence that exemplify the social role of art museums.
“As a jury, each year we look for art museums that do not just impress us superficially but demonstrate authentic and sustained engagement with their audiences,” said Samuel Gallacher, Chair of the Art Museum Award Jury. “The power of art to profoundly change lives, and to help tangibly improve society, has been well demonstrated on many occasions in this competition by museums across Europe.”
EMST is joined on the 2026 shortlist by other prominent European museums of international standing, including the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), the new FENIX Museum of Migration (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and the National Gallery of Slovenia (Ljubljana). The list of finalists is complete with Hastings Contemporary (UK) and Museum Gugging (Klosterneuburg, Austria).
“Regardless of whether their collections comprise Old Masters, Modernists or young emerging artists, curatorial practice across all six of our finalist museums demonstrates excellence and relevance in engaging with the issues facing society today, which we are proud to recognise and champion through the Art Museum Award,” Gallagher concluded.
The winner of the Art Museum Award 2026 will be announced at the Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony in Alicante, Spain, on 26th September 2026.
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