Swiss institution lands European ‘Museum Oscar’

For its inaugural exhibition in its new permanent home entitled “Fake: The Whole Truth”, the Stapferhaus museum renamed its building the “Office of the Whole Truth”. Anita_affentranger

The Stapferhaus in Lenzburg, a town just west of Zurich, was handed the prestigious European Museum of the Year Award for 2020 during an online event, after last year’s awards were postponed due to the pandemic.

The museum was lauded by the European Museum Forum (EMF), which gives out the award, for its “innovative, creative and forward-thinking approach [that] offers a model for the museum as laboratory for the art of living”.

“They choose themes […] which most museums would not dream of addressing,” the award hosts added.

During the online event, which took place last week, the EMF handed out prizes for 2020 and 2021.

The 2021 award for sustainability went to another Swiss museum, the Walserhaus GurinExternal link in canton Ticino, praised by the jury “as an exemplary case of social sustainability within a rural context.” The Walserhaus, which is located in the mountains, is run by an association and a community of volunteers that aim to preserve local culture and traditions.   

Museum Walserhaus Gurin

The StapferhausExternal link in Lenzburg, named after the Swiss philosopher Philipp Albert Stapfer, was founded in 1960 but only moved to its current permanent home in 2018. For its inaugural exhibition in the new location, “Fake: The Whole Truth”, the building was renamed “Office of the Whole Truth”.

The exhibition currently running in the Stapferhaus is called “Gender and Sex”, and explores questions about the construction and characteristics of gender, sex, and love.

The annual European Museum of the Year AwardExternal link and its related prizes are handed out to newly opened or renovated museums at a conference and ceremony that bring together professionals from the sector.

Geneva’s Ethnography Museum won the “Museum Oscar” in 2017.