Manchester Museum crowned European Museum of the Year 2025

Judges praise Museum for 'creating a truly inclusive space'

Manchester Museum has been recognised as one of Europe’s leading museums after winning the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) 2025.

The annual prize is one of the most prestigious museum awards in the world and Manchester Museum, part of The University of Manchester, is the first university museum to receive it, earning recognition for the way it balances globally-significant academic research with community engagement and social responsibility.

Judges praised how Manchester Museum has ‘reimagined its mission, acknowledging and addressing its complex history by redefining the role of its collections and public programmes.’ Its approach to co-curation was cited as part of this, working with local and diasporic communities to bring new perspectives to collections and challenge traditional narratives. The South Asia Gallery, a British Museum partnership, is a key element of this, co-curated with 30 inspiring community members from across the South Asian diaspora, who were able to tell their own stories in their own words and on their own terms.

Manchester Museum was also praised for ‘thoughtful, informed, and impactful community engagement, creating a truly inclusive space where all individuals, regardless of identity or background, can see themselves reflected and represented.’ The Manchester Museum Celebrates programme of events, created in collaboration with charities, faith organisations and community activists, aims to build understanding between cultures, bringing people together to celebrate culturally-significant events such as Lunar New Year, Vaisakhi, Africa Day and Iftar.

Manchester Museum won the main prize in the face of competition from 41 other shortlisted museums from across the continent. The award was presented on Saturday 25 May, during the EMYA2025 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony at the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białistok, Poland on 25 May 2025. Previous winners include Sámi Museum Siida in Northern Lapland, Finland, Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Design Museum in London, and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum, said: “Museums have the power to be empathy machines, bringing generations and communities together to build understanding, while confronting the past with honesty and transparency. More than ever before, we need museums that are values-led, imaginative and confident about what they stand for.”