MUTEC Award 2026: Twelve exhibition projects shortlisted
Nearly 70 entries were submitted for the MUTEC Award 2026. The jury has now selected twelve projects for the shortlist. The MUTEC Award 2026 will be presented in Leipzig on 6 November. Three outstanding projects from the museum and exhibition sector will each receive prize money of €1,500.
How can museums become places for social debate, new forms of access and lasting experiences? The twelve exhibition projects shortlisted for the MUTEC Award 2026 offer a wide range of answers. From nearly 70 submissions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the jury selected exhibitions that stand out for their design quality, innovative approaches to interpretation and communication, and strong social relevance.
The shortlist spans exhibitions on mental health, fair work and coercive welfare measures, as well as climate, money, puppet theatre and regional identity. It demonstrates the many ways in which museums today communicate knowledge, enable participation and address current issues.
Due to their exceptionally high quality, the selected projects were deemed equally deserving of an award by the expert jury. Each winning project will therefore receive €1,500 in prize money. The award ceremony will take place on:
Friday, 6 November 2026, at 1:00 pm in the MUTEC Forum (Hall 4)
“The strong response and the quality of the submissions have shown us just how much creative energy and professional expertise there is in the museum and exhibition sector,” says Constantin Strobel, Project Director of MUTEC. “The shortlisted projects make complex topics accessible, open up new perspectives and encourage people to engage with them. At MUTEC, we will showcase and honour these approaches.”
Nominees for the MUTEC Award 2026
- How Are You? The Exhibition on Mental Health
- Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden
- Design: Jana Beckmann / studio flex; Rebecca Wenzel; studio other types
- My Money & Me
- Money Museum of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main
- Design: molitor GmbH
- Forgotten by Fortune: Coercive Welfare Measures in Bern and Switzerland
- Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern
- Design: Karin Bucher; Tanja Rietmann; interdisciplinary project team of the Bernisches Historisches Museum
- KOLK 17 Puppet Theatre & Museum – The Game of Life
- KOLK 17, Lübeck
- Design: Hanna Kropp and Demirag Architekten; Markus Braun and Demirag Architekten
- From Babylon to the Moon
- LWL-Museum Ziegelei Lage
- Design: filamente GmbH; Playing History GmbH
- Kant Museum – A Sensory Edifice of Thought for Everyone
- East Prussian State Museum | Kant Museum, Lüneburg
- Design: Sunder-Plassmann & Werner Szenografie GmbH; Sunder-Plassmann Architekten; Bureau Stabil; Stefan Helling; Taucher Sound Scenography; men@work
- Winter in Vienna: The Disappearance of a Season
- Wien Museum
- Design: Carol Kofler; Larissa Cerny
- CARE! When Love Becomes Work
- Museum der Arbeit, Hamburg
- Design: ConstructLab Berlin
- LABOUR LAB – A Space for Fair Work
- Museum Arbeitswelt, Steyr
- Design: Museum Arbeitswelt; Ars Electronica Solutions; Studio SMESH
- A City or My City?
- Stadtmuseum Oldenburg
- Design: GfG / Gruppe für Gestaltung; Marthe Trottnow, Joshua Walter, Tanja Büsching, Asja Beckmann, Nadine Ahlers, Siena Jakobi, Carsten Koralewski
- Glitter
- Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe Hamburg
- Design: TheGreenEyl; Rimini Berlin
- Frauen machen “Männel” [Women make 'Männel']
- Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
- Design: Irene Pätzug; Veit Pätzug
The MUTEC Award honours innovative exhibition projects from German-speaking countries. Eligible participants included museums, exhibition designers, planning and design studios, as well as interdisciplinary teams that realised a temporary, permanent or touring exhibition between 2024 and 2026. The expert jury assessed entries according to criteria including innovation and creativity, design quality, sustainability, accessibility and inclusion, interactivity and participation, and their ability to engage visitors.
