Belgium's Holocaust museum nominated for European Museum of the Year

The Kazerne Dossin Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights has been nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) for 2014. The annual prize is awarded to a new or renovated museum from anywhere in Europe.

Mechelen’s Holocaust museum opened in November of 2012 on the site of the Dossin barracks, from where more than 25,000 Jews and gypsies from Belgium and Northern France were shipped in rail cars to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Kazerne Dossin is the only museum in Belgium to be nominated for the prestigious prize, which counts 34 nominations this year.

The EMYA rewards museums that have taken an unconventional, often social approach to presenting information. The Holocaust museum’s location make it unique as does its role as a documentation and education centre and memorial. The architecture was specifically designed to reflect the “emotional reference” of the site, according to Flemish architect Bob Van Reeth. “The building is clad in pale stone, so that with its blank wall facing the square, it resembles nothing so much as a giant headstone.” 

The winner of the EMYA will be announced in May.

www.europeanmuseumforum.info 

photo credit:

Stijn Bollaert