Introducing Europeana 280

What is Europeana 280? On 21 April, Europeana will launch Europeana 280, a cross-border campaign to get people excited about Europe’s shared art heritage by celebrating the diverse and magnificent artworks that are a part of it. We invited all 28 EU Member States to nominate 10 pieces of art held in their country that have contributed to a major European art movement. We’re pleased to say that every country (and Norway too) got involved. We started sharing some of these fascinating artworks in March, and will be unveiling more as the campaign begins in full. The campaign coincides with the launch of Europeana Art, one of our first thematic collection sites. All the artworks nominated for Europeana 280 will be shared here.

What can I look out for and how can I join in? There will be lots of ways to join in with the campaign and explore the artworks involved, both online and in person. Since March, we've been sharing a sneak preview of what's to come on Europeana Art. We've had a changing 'Country of the Week' Spotlight, and a new cover image showcasing a highlight from this country's nominations too.

On 21 April, the first in an exciting series of public events - #BigArtRide - will take place in The Hague and Brussels. #BigArtRide is a virtual reality event touring ten cities across Europe - The Hague, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Rome, London, Berlin, Prague, Wroclaw, and Bratislava - celebrating Europe's shared art heritage and the Dutch Presidency of the EU. It's accompanied by a colouring app, CREATE, which lets you interact with and personalise works featured in #BigArtRide. On 21 April, we will also launch a unique virtual exhibition, Faces of Europe, which brings together highlights from every country's final nominations to tell the story of European culture through the eyes of its artists.

New chapters will be revealed every fortnight until July, and showcase iconic masterpieces by artists such as Goya and Gauguin alongside captivating works by less famous names. You can also get a taste of what’s to come via DailyArt, a fantastic free app for art lovers available on iOS & Android and ArtStack, a platform that makes it easy to discover art based on your taste.

DailyArt shared a spectacular artwork from the Europeana 280 collections as their masterpiece of the day through March, and will be featuring more works soon - so stay tuned! Throughout all of this, we will also be inviting you to get involved on social media - follow the campaign on Twitter and Facebook using #Europeana280.