This year’s ŽIVA Awards ceremony, held on October 10 in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, brought many new features and highlighted the outstanding achievements of museums and institutions dedicated to preserving Slavic heritage. The main winners were the Croatian Museum of Natural History in Zagreb – as the best Slavic Museum – and the NI Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture and Museum in Ohrid – as the best Slavic Heritage Site.

The jury awarded the Croatian Natural History Museum for its long-standing and persistent work in the field of research and interpretation of Croatia’s natural heritage, emphasizing that despite the consequences of a natural disaster, the museum continued to develop programs, exhibitions, and approaches to visitors. Its exhibitions, workshops, scientific research, and rich natural history collection have earned the museum a reputation as a leading institution in this field. The NI Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture and Museum – Ohrid was awarded for its efforts to protect and interpret the extensive cultural area around Lake Ohrid, where it is reviving heritage through modern archaeological research and national and international initiatives. The judges particularly highlighted the combination of outstanding conservation work, scientific research, and museum practice, which makes the Institute a model of sustainable heritage preservation.

This year, for the first time, an award for the preservation of Slavic heritage around the world was presented, with diplomas awarded to four institutions: Kanizsai Dorottya Museum, Mohács, Hungary, Fisheries Museum of the Trieste Littoral, Santa Croce di Trieste, Italy, Museum of the People of the Resia Valley, Stolvizza, Italy, and National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA.

The award ceremony was accompanied by a multi-day professional conference entitled Echoes of Heritage and the Future of Museums, which took place at the Herzegovina Museum. It offered participants an insight into contemporary approaches to museology and heritage preservation. Alessio Mazzolotti, President and CEO of Ice Cubes Srl and Founder and Creative Director of Fishbone Creek Sas, presented the Genius Loci project, which uses augmented reality, digital twins, and artificial intelligence to open up new possibilities for museum accessibility and interactivity. In his contribution, Sandro Debono, Museum Thinker and Consultant, presented an approach to museology in which the future serves as a tool for understanding and shaping the present. Roberto Zancan, Professor of History and Theory of Architecture at HEAD-Geneve (HES-SO) highlighted the importance of transnational networks between Mediterranean cultural institutions that encourage collaboration and the creation of new ecosystems for artistic research.

All 32 institutions nominated for the award presented specific projects, programs, and practices through which they preserve, interpret, and promote heritage. A special part of the program was the museum market, organized on the platform in front of the Herzegovina Museum, where museums and cultural institutions presented their materials and objects at stands, thus enabling the exchange of experiences in a relaxed, informal atmosphere.

This year’s ŽIVA award concluded with a professional excursion through the cultural heritage of Herzegovina, which allowed participants to come into direct contact with the historical, artistic, and cultural aspects of key monuments. They visited the Zavala monastery, the Vjetrenica cave, the Radimlja necropolis, and the Žitomislić monastery, concluding with a tour of Mostar and the Old Bridge. Most of these monuments are protected by UNESCO.

The event brought together more than a hundred participants, who had the opportunity to learn about contemporary approaches to museology, exchange experiences, and connect tradition with innovation. The award ceremony, a conference with a rich program of presentations, and a professional excursion together showed how museums and cultural institutions preserve heritage and bring it closer to a contemporary audience.