The museum, founded in 2005 by famous poet-author Sunay Akın, became affiliated with the International Council of Museums in April, thus gaining the right to be named among nominees for next year's EMYA awards.The EMYA is awarded by the European Museum Forum, an independent and nonprofit organization where dozens of museums from throughout Europe are represented. Presented since 1977 and aimed at raising the standard of museums throughout Europe, the EMYA recognizes newly built or restored museums across the continent. Next year's forum and the award ceremony will be held in Tampere, the third largest city in Finland, the Anatolia news agency reported.
“An artist should not go on a hunt for prizes; what is important is to win prizes for his own culture, the city he lives in,” Akın told Anatolia over the weekend. “If we win the Museum of the Year prize, I will be proud -- not for myself but for our culture and for İstanbul. It honors me that a museum from İstanbul, which will become a European Capital of Culture in 2010, is nominated for a prize by the European Museum Forum,” Akın said.
The İstanbul Toy Museum is located in an old mansion owned by Akın's family in İstanbul's Göztepe quarter. The museum's collection is made up of around 4,000 toys that range from model cars and planes to dolls, puzzles and lead toy soldiers, put together by Akın in a period that spanned over 20 years, from the four corners of the world. The collection also includes antique toys that represent various periods in history. The oldest items in the museum are a toy violin made in France in the year 1817 and an American doll that dates back to 1820.
