eMuseum launched by Heritage Malta, a digital first for Malta

by Gozo News · November 22, 2025

eMuseum, a new online platform granting unprecedented public access to Malta’s national collection, has been launched by Heritage Malta.

After four years of dedicated work by curators, conservators, and digitisation specialists, eMuseum now makes nearly 3,000 artefacts from Heritage Malta’s museums and reserve collections accessible online, with more being added regularly.

Heritage Malta explained that the collection features items from MUZA – The National Community Art Museum, the Malta Maritime Museum, and the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, among others. Users can browse by title, date, exhibition history, or museum location, and curate their own personal collections of favourite items.

Beyond simple access, the platform – accessible by clicking here – is designed as a dynamic environment for exploration and learning. Developed in line with Europeana – the European Union’s digital cultural heritage platform for which Heritage Malta is the certified National Aggregator – and international digitisation standards, eMuseum enables virtual exhibitions, immersive storytelling, and future integration of virtual and augmented reality experiences.

During the launch at the agency’s headquarters in Bighi, Kalkara, Dr Owen Bonnici, Minister for Culture, Lands and Local Government, commented that, “this initiative represents another important step in the digitisation of our cultural heritage, putting Malta in the forefront of this sector.”

He also stated that: “through eMuseum, the public will not only be able to appreciate better the national collection, but also have the opportunity to explore, study and interact with it in an innovative way, from anywhere in the world.”

Noel Zammit, Heritage Malta’s Chief Executive Officer, remarked, “this initiative further strengthens Heritage Malta’s standing as a forward-looking agency, that anticipates future changes, embraces and employs them. The portal opens the doors wide open for education, new partnerships that transcend borders and new cultural diplomacy opportunities, and more transparency in how Heritage Malta safeguards and interprets our country’s cultural assets. This launch is not the end of the road, but the start of new and exciting journeys in Heritage Malta’s adventure in the digitisation sector.”

Whilst thanking heartily the staff of the Technology and Experience Development (TED) Unit for their work, dedication and professionalism, Anthony Cassar, who heads the Unit, commented that: “The eMuseum platform is a promise that we will continue to preserve, share and promote our cultural heritage in an inclusive, innovative and sustainable way. This forms part of a larger chain of initiatives, including the Memory Twin concept, a more advanced method of digitising than the Digital Twin, being developed in unison with the UNESCO Chair for Digital Cultural Heritage, which ensures that what we digitally collect represents our cultural heritage fully, not only its visual form.”