Next to its permanent collection, the museum recently housed a major exhibition on Italian etcher Piranesi and now hosts a retrospective of the rural paintings of Flemish Impressionist Emile Claus.

Each year a panel of professional experts awards the €10,000 Museum Prize to one museum in each region (Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia) from a short list of five. In addition, members of the public can vote on their favourite, and schoolchildren eight to ten years old were allowed to pick their own choice of best museum in their region. About 6,000 people voted in all. Public and children’s prizes are worth €2,500.

The public’s prize this year went to the Gasthuismuseum in Geel, which offers a social and domestic history of the area, renowned worldwide for its system of foster care for the mentally ill, which dates back to the middle ages. The children’s prize was awarded to the Fashion Museum in Antwerp.

In Brussels region, the winner was the BELVue museum, which hosts temporary exhibitions and specialises on information on the royal family. It also offers access to some underground streets dating back to the 19th century. The public prize went to the Erasmus House in Anderlecht, where the philosopher lived in 1521, while the children’s prize went to the Strip Museum in central Brussels.

In Wallonia, the public and children alike voted for the Museum of Prehistory in Flémalle. The main prize went to the Photography Museum in Charleroi.

www.museumprijs.be