ZAGREB, September 16, 2019 - The Museum of Apoxyomenos in the town of Mali Lošinj on the northern Croatian island of Lošinj has become a part of the tourist itinerary within the European project called KeyQ+ that promotes points of reference for tourists and general public interested in culture and gastronomy, the local tourist authorities have recently reported.

The official name of the project is "KeyQ+ Culture and Tourism as keys for quality cross-border development of Italy and Croatia", and the tourist board in Mali Lošinj is one of the nine Italian and Croatian partners in the project.

The main results of the project are a gastronomic guide and an itinerary for tourists, as well as workshops for the exchange of experience between workers in the hospitality industry.

The project KeyQ+ is aimed at protecting and preserving historical traditional cuisine and less-known cultural heritage sites, in order to foster the cross-border economy.

"To that scope the project will ensure the definition of innovative tourist itinerary that will be focused on enhancing the local wine-gastronomic attractiveness, and supporting synergies creation among the didactic kitchens, local producers and cultural sites operators," according to the description of the project.

Apoxyomenos Museum in Kvarner Palace in Mali Lošinj opened in 30 April 2016 and Apoxyomenos, which is the ancient 192-centimetre bronze sculpture weighing 300 kilogrammes and the only one of its kind found on the eastern Adriatic coast, is put on display in the reconstructed Kvarner Palace which has been transformed into a museum.

More news about museum in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

As we've previously reported, the Apoxyomenos Museum on Mali Lošinj was nominated for the title of European Museum of the Year among as many as 39 other European museums, from Russia to the United Kingdom.

While it has not received the title of the best museum in Europe, it has been given the Special Commendation by jury member Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and which was received by Zrinka Ettinger Starčić, the director of the Apoxyomenos Museum. 

The European Museum of the Year award is one of the most significant awards any museum in Europe can get, given by the European Museum Fund and supported by the Council of Europe, to the most innovative, high-quality, considerate, sustainable and responsible approaches.

This year's top award, The European Museum of the Year Award 2019, goes to the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Leiden, Netherlands, for the "exceptional public quality of this museum, which results from its artful approach to communicating science." The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to present its Museum Prize 2019 to the Museum für Kommunikation, Bern, Switzerland, "for the creative way it promotes media literacy in the service of responsible citizenship in a functioning democracy.''

The commendation given to the Apoxyomenos Museum is explained as follows: "Muzej Apoksiomena takes an innovative and creative approach to the display of the exceptional sculpture that it has been created to celebrate. Contrasting styles of presentation create a dramatic approach to its central treasure, which is finally revealed in all its splendour."

It was the only Croatian museum to be nominated this year. 

The awards ceremony was held at the Sarajevo National Theatre, hosted by the last year's Council of Europe award winner, Sarajevo's War Childhood Museum. Every year, that ceremony is the largest gathering of European experts in museology, and this year it was attended by over 200 experts from more than twenty European countries.  

As Morski writes on the 8th of January, 2019, at the end of last year, the Apoxyomenos Museum on Mali Lošinj was nominated for the title of the European Museum of the Year among as many as 39 other European museums, from Russia to the United Kingdom. Otherwise, this popular Mali Lošinj museum is the only museum in the whole of the Republic of Croatia to compete for this prestigious title since the year 1977.

The work and effort of the staff of the Apoxyomenos Museum has also been rightfully recognised by the respected European Museum Forum, which has accepted the museum's candidacy for the prestigious title of European Museum of the Year under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The award gives recognition to the vast European museum scene and thus promotes innovative processes in the museum world.

The award will be held this year in Sarajevo from the 22nd to the 25th of May. All forty candidates from across the continent of Europe can be viewed on the official EMYA website.

The wave of good news has continued over these very early days of 2019 as the Apoxyomenos Museum was also declared number one on the list of the top 10 museums in Croatia to visit, based on the choice of the 2018 Travelers' Choice from TripAdvisor, as was reported by Pokret otoka (Island movement).

The stunning bronze statue of a young Apoxyomenos athlete was found under the water near the island of Vele Orjule near Lošinj, at a depth of 45 metres. When the statue was discovered, it remained in a completely preserved state, missing only the little finger of the left hand, and a part of its original bronze base was astonishingly still attached to the foot of the right leg. The statue was recovered in 1999.

It is an old Greek piece, known now as the Croatian Apoxyomenos, kept in a state of absolutely exceptional preservation, an example of remarkable historic beauty and artistic value, apparently dating from the 1st or 2nd century BC.

The project of the extraction of the statue from the sea, its conservation and restoration work, and of course further research and proper representation of the statue was made possible through the funds of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and owing to a welcome donation from Oxford Maritime Ltd. from the United Kingdom.

Conservation and restoration works started back in the year 2000 and were performed at the Croatian Conservation Institute in Zagreb. The works were led by the now late restaurateur Giuliano Tordi, a former employee of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Institute in Florence, Italy, in collaboration with Antonio Šerbetić. The works lasted for six long years.

Make sure to stay up to date with more on the Apoxyomenos Museum and much more by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

Click here for the original article by Marta Stupin for Pokret otoka

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