The Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill threw open its doors to great success last weekend, after flooding forced its closure for the past three months. More than 2,500 people were welcomed back over the first weekend and they wasted no time enjoying displays and packing out the River Kitchen café! Visitors enjoyed brand new on-gallery making activities, the opening of the much-anticipated LEGO® Lake District installation, drop-in activities and refreshed displays.

To add to the celebrations, the Derby Museums team are delighted to announce the Museum of Making has been nominated for the prestigious European Museum of the Year Award 2024 (EMYA).

The shortlist comprises of fifty museums across Europe and includes two other museums located in the UK, The Burrell Collection (Glasgow), and the Museum of the Home (London).

Organised by the European Museum Forum, the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) was founded in 1977 and represents the best in innovation and excellence, in new or redeveloped museums, with the aim of recognising and developing the quality of the European museum scene. The rigorous judging process culminates in the annual conference and awards ceremony with the participation of 250-300 leading museum professionals, at which the candidates present their museums, the winners are announced, and the underlying values and innovative ideas in the European museum field are discussed, renewed and reinterpreted. EMYA have accumulated over 40 years of insights into the societal and community needs, which drive, create, develop and sustain museums as crucial civic spaces for the exploration of Europe’s heritage, the annual conference serves as a continuous benchmark for innovation and best practices for the sector.

The Museum of Making has shown itself to be an attractive civic space and invaluable heritage asset for Derby, having attracted over 90,000 visitors in its first year of operation and over 122,000 in the last financial year. A recent economic impact report estimated that Derby Museums supports Derby’s hospitality, leisure and tourism offer by generating an estimated £7m of tourism spend in the local economy, with £4m coming from the Museum of Making alone. The influx of support during the museum’s recent closure and the high visitor numbers over the reopening weekend show this looks set to continue and clearly demonstrate how the museum has found a firm place in the hearts and minds of the local community.

Image: a family enjoy new on-gallery making activities at the Museum of Making’s reopening weekend © Oliver Taylor/Derby Museums

Tony Butler, Executive Director of Derby Museums says: “I am thrilled that the Museum of Making has been recognised as a nominee for the European Museum of the Year Award 2024. We’re proud that less than three years after reopening, the museum is already becoming a popular tourist destination in the UK, attracting visitors to Derby and playing an important role in creating a vibrant tourism sector for Derbyshire. This award will help to further raise our profile in the UK and across Europe.”

“We have worked hard to reopen the Museum of Making so quickly after the flood last year and it has been fantastic to welcome visitors back and see the museum vibrant and full of life once again.”

“We wish all our fellow nominees good luck, including two other excellent museums from the UK, the Museum of the Home in London and The Burrell Collection in Glasgow.”

The winners of the EMYA awards 2024 will be announced during the Annual Conference of the European Museum Forum, which will take place at Portimão Museum, Portugal, in May 2024.

Cover image: Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill © Andrew Evans/Derby Museums