Wu Zetian: The Only Female Emperor of China has won an award at the prestigious Museumtijdschrift Exhibition Prize. The exhibition received third place, a remarkable recognition of the quality and success of this international collaboration. It also marks the first time that a museum in the province of Friesland has secured a spot in the top three of this national award.
The award ceremony took place on Wednesday, 15 October, at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam where representatives of the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics and Palatina Cultural Group were present. The first prize went to Anselm Kiefer, a joint exhibition by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum.
The Museumtijdschrift Exhibition Prize is an annual award recognising exceptional exhibitions in Dutch museums. It draws attention to the high quality and diversity of exhibitions across disciplines – from art and history to design, archaeology, and fashion. 2025 was the seventh edition of the award, where ten exhibitions were nominated by a professional jury. The winners were then voted by the public, with Wu Zetian receiving an impressive 12% of the total 17,000 votes – a record number for the Exhibition Prize.
Wu Zetian was the first-ever exhibition in Europe featuring the fascinating life story of Wu Zetian (624–705), the first and only female ruler in Chinese history. From 26 October 2024 to 25 May 2025, visitors to the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden were able to admire rare Chinese masterpieces of exceptional quality, many of which are rarely loaned outside China.
With more than 50,000 visitors in just seven months, Wu Zetian became the best-attended exhibition in the museum’s history, even surpassing the record set in 2018, when Leeuwarden was European Capital of Culture.
Wu Zetian: The Only Female Emperor of China is the result of a collaboration with Art Exhibitions China, Henan Administration of Cultural Heritage, Luoyang Museum, Longmen Grottoes Academy, Luoyang City Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, Zhenjiang Museum, Gongyi Museum, Henan Museum, Yanshi Museum, and Xin’an Museum.
The exhibition was made possible through the generous support of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands and the Province of Fryslân.