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Sybilla 2003 Prizes Awarded to Museums

The Sybille 2003 awards for the Museum events of the year were announced on International Museum Day. Winners received statuettes of Sybilla at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Tuesday. This year, the jury did not award a Grand Prix.

“In view of the standard of the nominated events, the means they were presented and their reception in the media and by the public, the jury for the Sybille 2003 awards for the Museum Events of the Year competition has decided to award 49 prizes and honorable mentions,” said jury chairman Franciszek Cemka of the department of national heritage in the Polish ministry of culture.

Sybilla statuettes, monetary prizes, and honorable mentions were awarded in 11 categories including art, archaeological, historical, and biographical and literary exhibitions, publications, and educational and promotional programs.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Director Jerzy Wróblewski accepted a Sybilla for the album They Cannot Be Forgotten: The Youngest Victims of Auschwitz, which he characterized as “the result of years of research that turned up explanations for many formerly unexplained occurrences.”

218 museum events earned nominations for this year’s awards, which are in their 24th year.

The International Museum Council proclaimed Museum Day in 1977, with the first celebrations held the following May 18. The first contest in Poland to mark the day was held in 1980. Its format and regulations have since changed, with many new categories added. For the last three years, the Sybilla statuettes have been given to first-prize winners in 11 categories. The Polish ministry of culture organizes the competition.