Focus on Heritage in Motion 2017 winners

Each year, Heritage in Motion rewards the best innovative multimedia achievements and products engaging the public with Europe’s outstanding heritage in all its forms. We tell you a little more about the 4 winners of the 2017 edition, which have been announced on 29 September 2017 in Skopje, Macedonia, during the Annual Conference of the European Museum Academy.

Best Achievement Award

The Jury was unanimous in declaring Historic Royal Palaces as the winner of the Best Achievement Award for ‘The Lost Palace’. ‘This project immerses visitors in the history of a lost heritage site through creative and attractive technology, enhanced by performances and installations. ‘A clever use of technology’, according to the jury: ‘it is quite poetic and intriguing, but not afraid to engage the audience with style and theatrics.’ This nomination meant a lot to Tim Powel, creative producer: ‘this Europe-wide recognition is a major boost to us and our creative collaborators on the project - Chomko & Rosier, Univited Guests (with Lewis Gibson) and Calvium. Such awards really help us make the case to be bold, brave and try new things.’

Best app for mobile devices

The jury awarded the best app for mobile devices to Athens Time Walk, an offline guide with 3D representations of Athens' most famous archaeological sites. ‘A fun way to learn more about local history’, it is the result of two years effort by a joined team of Web developers, 3D special artists, archaeologists, historians and cultural managers. Giannis Ladas, CEO, commented that this recognition was ‘a motive to work even harder on trying to find innovative ways to combine technology and culture’.

Best website and online content

Developed by the Stockholm City Museum, the Stockholm City Archive, the Stockholm City Library and the City of Stockholm Administration of Education, Stockholmskällan’s website enables people to walk in the footsteps of their predecessors, and to find traces of history in letters, photos, police reports, maps, film, music, paintings and tips of literature. For the Jury, it is also ‘a best-practice example of cooperation between cultural institutions, initiating a process of learning history directly from the primary sources’. According to Martin Nyblom, Stockholmskällan’s editor and educator, ‘this award proves that our project meets a high standard regarding content, formats and working methods. Stockholmskällan might also work as a role model for education, museums and cultural heritage institutions internationally.’

Best Film and video

Exhibition on Screen by Seventh Art Productions is the originator and the unique provider of a year-on-year art exhibition based films to cinemas worldwide. ‘It is our mission to preserve and celebrate Europe's extraordinary artistic heritage’, in director Phil Grabsky’s words. For the jury, ‘the multi-layered approach helps to unfold the secrets of both the artists and the museums and makes the exhibitions accessible to a much wider audience.' 

This year, two special mentions were also awarded for extraordinary projects: a scientific and creative accomplishment, The Next Rembrandt project by ING (Netherlands) is a 3D-printed painting blurring the boundaries between art and technology. Signly, an app created for d/Deaf British Sign Language users in collaboration with the The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre (UK) proved to be a great app for making museums more inclusive and accessible.

The next Heritage in Motion Awards will be held in Aarhus, Denmark, on 20-23 September 2018. In the meantime, you can browse all the projects submitted in 2017.