The Abandonment Museum is shortlisted for The Museums and Heritage Awards

The Abandonment Museum – an independent, digital, and participatory museum – ranks among the top five museum projects in the world in the “Best Use of Digital” category at the 2024 Museums and Heritage Awards. In its 22nd edition, The Museums + Heritage Awards represents one of the most significant events in the museum and heritage industry worldwide, recognizing excellence and innovation in the field.

The Abandonment Museum was established in 2021, being the first museum project in Romania at the intersection of social and cultural spheres, aiming to explore a massive collective trauma that has never been truly acknowledged and disseminated publicly. It concerns the hundreds of thousands of children who were abandoned during the communist years, as well as in the recent history of our country.

The museum receives this nomination at a time when the Council of Europe strongly urges all member states to take stock of the situation of violence committed in institutions and to recognize the suffering of the victims.

“When we initiated this project, we wanted it to bring about a change in perception, to become a social mediator between the never-before-seen community of those who have suffered the effects and stigma of abandonment and society. Change can only come from the new generation, for whom we designed this digital and immersive format, and now this choice of a digital museum brings us a nomination that puts us in the international spotlight,” says Oana Drăgulinescu, founder of the Abandonment Museum.

The Abandonment Museum is an independent museum project that has succeeded in establishing itself as an institution of the future, through digital innovation and the development of a spectacular virtual reality application, appreciated at the International Digital Culture & Spotlight Heritage Festival, Timişoara European Cultural Capital, 2023, and at the Co-Museum Conference in Athens (December 2023).

Also in the realm of digital implementations, the museum holds an archive of nearly 20,000 items and a mapping of all the institutions where Romanian children lived between 1966 and 1997. The Abandonment Map contains hundreds of institutions, files, and associated documents, becoming the most extensive public research initiative on this topic.

“I believe that with this nomination, we have overcome the syndrome of periphery. When you are a small, independent museum from Bucharest, it’s hard to dare to project yourself into the premier league of world museums. The Abandonment Museum is a memorial museum project, in the form of a collective and participatory exercise of assumption and responsibility, dedicated to the over half a million children abandoned in Romania during the communist and post-communist periods,” says Ioana Călinescu, co-founder of the Abandonment Museum.

“It is truly inspirational to observe the wide range of organizations featured on this year’s shortlist, where small local museums stand shoulder to shoulder with world-renowned institutions. This diverse tapestry wonderfully reflects the rich fabric of this sector, showcasing the inclusive and eclectic nature of our global cultural heritage,” says Anna Preedy, director of the Museums + Heritage Awards.

The awards ceremony will take place at the Hilton London Park Lane on the evening of May 15th and will be hosted by National Geographic explorer, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, and comedian, Ella Al-Shamahi.

The Abandonment Museum was previously honored in 2023 with the Golden Award for Excellence in Art and Culture at the Romanian PR Awards, in 2022 at the Gala of the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN) Awards with the Award for Social Inclusion and Intercultural Dialogue, and at the Civil Society Gala with three 1st Prizes in the categories: Art and Culture, Social Impact, and Social Communication Campaigns.