Poland in the Council of Europe

Honoring Sybir Memorial Museum with the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2024.

On December 5th, during the meeting of the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) a decision was taken to award Sybir Memorial Museum with the Council of Europe Museums Prize 2024.

The Sybir Memorial Museum is dedicated to people who, from the end of the 16th century until the middle of the 20th century, were enslaved and sent deep into Russia, and later the Soviet Union, as well as to those who went there voluntarily.

According to the committee representative for the Museum Prize, Constantinos Efstathiou (Cyprus, SOC): “The museum works with the strong narrative of deportation, reducing research-based material to the essentials, working with strong spatial images that give a voice to the selected authentic objects. The museum’s ability to convey history through workshops, events, media, publications and new formats is impressive and brings it to a broad audience.”

The ceremonial award ceremony is planned during the April session of the PACE in 2024. In 2016, the Museum Award was granted to the European Solidarity Center in Gdańsk.

The Council of Europe Museum Prize has been awarded annually since 1977 to a museum judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding of European cultural heritage, the promotion of respect for human rights and democracy, bridging cultures, overcoming social and political borders, broadening visitors' knowledge and understanding of contemporary societal issues and exploring ideas of democratic citizenship.

In 2016, the Museum Award was granted to the European Solidarity Center in Gdańsk.