The Natural History Museum in London and Orkney's former Royal Navy base, Scapa Flow, are candidates for Museum of the Year in the United Kingdom.
Glasgow's Burrell Collection and Belfast's MAC join them on the shortlist for the $120,000 award. Leighton House in London's Holland Park completes the list of five finalists.
The victor will be announced on July 12 at the British Museum, and the four runners-up will each receive £15,000. The 10th year of the Art Fund's Museum of the Year award, which seeks to promote the United Kingdom's 2,500 museums, galleries, and heritage sites, will be celebrated in 2023.
The 9,000-item Sir William and Constance Burrell Collection is housed in Pollok Country Park in Glasgow's Burrell Collection. It was managed by the charity Glasgow Life and reopened by King Charles last year after a significant renovation.
The collection includes some of the finest medieval stained glass and tapestries, as well as works by Rembrandt and Degas, among others. In addition, there are one hundred digital interpretations, ranging from immersive experiences to interactive games.
Leighton House in London is the former studio house of Frederic, Lord Leighton, a prominent Victorian artist. A public museum since 1900, it will reopen in 2022 after undergoing renovations.
The museum conducted research as part of the restoration initiative to continue reassembling Leighton's collection. It also collaborated closely with contemporary artists on works such as furniture crafted by displaced Syrian artisans and an arresting mural titled Oneness.
According to the prize's organizers, the MAC is Northern Ireland's premier arts institution and a driving force in Belfast's social, physical, and economic revitalization. People have been able to participate in and appreciate art for the past decade. Its galleries bring significant international artists to Ireland while also placing Irish artists within an international context.
The center places equal importance on its civic and cultural responsibilities, as evidenced by its MACtivate program, which assists some of the most marginalized members of society.
In order to raise awareness of the housing crisis in Northern Ireland, the MAC commissioned artists to create works advocating for the welfare of LGBT individuals and reproductive rights organizations in the country. The Natural History Museum in London is the most-visited indoor attraction in the United Kingdom and a prominent science research facility.
It is one of the most significant scientific collections in the world, with over 80 million specimens. The Natural History Museum in London is the most-visited indoor attraction in the United Kingdom and a prominent science research facility.
It is one of the most significant scientific collections in the world, with over 80 million specimens. The Scapa Flow Museum recounts the history of Orkney and its inhabitants during World War I and World War II, including the construction of a massive Royal Navy base at Lyness on the island of Hoy, where it still remains today. The museum's £4.4 million renovation was reopened to the public last year, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and NatureScot.
Incorporating a portion of the historic infrastructure, it recounts the stories of individuals who came to Orkney during the war, as well as key narratives about the base and major wartime tragedies. Through a junior curators program, elementary school students assisted in the layout of the spaces.
