Two Digital Developments of the Museum of Ethnography Win Awards at the AVICOM F@IMP 2024–2025 International Festival

Two digital developments of the Museum of Ethnography have received prestigious recognition at the AVICOM F@IMP 2024–2025 International Media​ Festival, held on 15 November 2025 in Dubai, at the Expo City Terra Pavilion, as part of the 27th ICOM General Conference.

This year’s festival focused on the central theme of the conference: “The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.” Based on this theme, the international jury assessed leading museum digital projects from around the world and awarded two developments by the Museum of Ethnography: the multimedia network of the museum’s collection exhibition received the ICOM Dubai Special Prize, while the EthnoFusion music application was honoured with the Education and Mediation Prize in the mobile application category.

ICOM Dubai Special Prize: “A Polyphonic Museum Experience – The Multimedia Network of the Museum of Ethnography’s Permanent Exhibition”

The newly established ICOM Dubai Special Prize was awarded to the entry that best aligned with the central theme of the ICOM Conference. Opened in 2024, the 3,000 m² permanent exhibition presents the cultures of five continents and the diversity of Hungarian society through 3,600 original objects, 1,600 photographs and 1,000 stories.

The exhibition is interwoven with a networked multimedia system that engages diverse audiences in an inclusive and playful manner. Interactive maps, films, animations and data visualisations help visitors interpret cultural heritage, offering new perspectives on the presentation of ethnography.

The award recognises the project’s innovative demonstration of how a museum can become an open, inclusive and dynamic space for knowledge, even within rapidly changing communities.

Education and Mediation Prize – Mobile Application category: EthnoFusion – mobile application

Developed as part of the temporary exhibition “May the Zithers Sing Merrily!”, the EthnoFusion application connects the experience of musical creation with the heritage of folk music. Users can compose their own melodies using the sounds of authentic traditional instruments, while playfully exploring folk musical patterns and rhythms.

The application is freely accessible anytime and anywhere, via a browser and without the need for download. Its intuitive interface encourages creative learning, discovery and community sharing. Users can mix original folk instruments—such as zither, flute, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipe, cimbalom, viola, shakuhachi and koto—with modern musical bases and effects, and send their completed mixes to themselves.

Awards Confirm an Outstandingly Successful Year

The two new recognitions are as significant for the museum’s staff as every award received in 2025. The permanent collection exhibition, opened in autumn 2024, received the IF Design Award in the category of “Exhibition Design and Implementation”. In 2025 it won two Red Dot Awards—one for the exhibition as whole and another for its multimedia solutions. The exhibition also reached the finals of the esteemed Luigi Micheletti Award.

The exhibition Székelys – Patterns of Heritage, presenting Székely identity, received the Exhibition of the Year 2025 award.

Among the museum’s publications, the catalogue Suspension of Disbelief and the exhibition guide Collection Exhibition received the Beautiful Hungarian Book 2024 award. The catalogue ZOOM won a Gold Indigo Award, a Silver A’Design Award, and a Red Dot Award in 2025.

In the field of museum education, the project Night at the Museum! was selected as a finalist for the European Museum Academy’s 2025 Children in Museums Award. The Hungarian Museum Association granted a special prize to the project Experimental Broadcast. In addition, József Molnár, retired museum educator of the Museum of Ethnography, received a Museum Education Lifetime Achievement Award.

Also in 2025, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation recognised the Museum of Ethnography as a Family-Friendly Workplace, while MagyarBrands honoured the institution in the Innovative Brand category.