December 15, 2022 - The Rijeka City Museum has been nominated for the flattering title of European Museum of the Year. The competition is fierce, and the winner will be announced at the conference of the European Museum Forum in Barcelona in May 2023.

As Poslovni / HRT write, the Rijeka Museum will compete for the title of the best with 32 other European museums. This is the first nomination at the European level.

"This would be the greatest recognition and success, but being nominated is a success in itself. Even the nomination for an Oscar counts, and we already had two awards from the Croatian Museum Society," said Ervin Dubrović, director of the Rijeka City Museum. Those were for the exhibition of restored works by Gustav Klimt and Merika - an exhibition dedicated to emigration. The permanent display in the magnificent Sugar Refinery Palace also received awards. It covers two floors and thirty rooms.

In the museum, you can learn about the first torpedo in the world, the history of the theater, or the legendary rock music scene in Rijeka, which is only the beginning of the story. The home of the permanent museum exhibition has been attracting many curious visitors for two years since its opening.

"In two years, 32 thousand people visited the Palace. From the beginning, it was our fellow citizens who wanted to see the new city attraction; tourists came to the fore later," says Velid Đekić, head of public relations at the Museum of the City of Rijeka.

This is not an empty, lifeless space; quite the opposite! It breathes and lives alongside its fellow citizens; many find inspiration in the space. "The sugar refinery is a representative object that we found fits very nicely with our models, which will fit well into the space so that they can show all their beauty," pointed out Renata Štefan Barišić, a professor at the Rijeka Trade and Textile School.

The European Museum Forum will decide the best museum on our continent, and the winner will be announced in May next year.

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