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17 May 2018

Museums + Heritage Awards winners revealed

The winners of this year’s Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence have been announced, with shortlisted projects celebrated and recognised across the museums, galleries, heritage and cultural visitor attractions sectors in the UK.

There were 13 categories overall. The Brooklands Museum – which was also shortlisted for the Art Fund's Museum of the year – picked up the Permanent Exhibition award for its Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed.

The museum in Weybridge, sited on the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, underwent an expansion last year. Housed in a restored WWII aircraft hangar, the new exhibition takes visitors on an immersive journey through 80 years of aircraft design, testing and manufacturing.

"This new exhibition has it all – it’s immersive, creative, people-focused," said the judging panel. "It's astonishing in its risk-taking, has great volunteers at its heart and challenging in the way it has so brilliantly brought its collection alive."

The award for innovation went to the Museum of London's Archaeological Archive, which the judges said "successfully turned object engagement on its head."

Called the #ArchiveLottery, the Museum of London utilised is Hackney-based storage facility – the largest archaeological archive in the world – by sharing it with the world through Twitter. When playing the #ArchiveLottery, the museum's followers on social media would tweet a shelf number, with the curator then going to that shelf, grabbing a box, take out an object, take a photo and tweet it back to the follower. This process was then replicated in the museum with a live Skype link allowing visitors to take part in the game while in the museum.

In the International category, open to museum's worldwide, was won by the Netherlands Open Air Museum and exhibition designers Kossman.Dejong. Together, the museum and designer worked on The Canon of Dutch History – a new interactive exhibition covering the 50 topics that make up Dutch history through the stories of ordinary people in the Netherlands.

"An impressive collaboration of different partners manifesting itself in a truly dynamic way," said the judges. "A brilliant example of interpretation."

The full list of winners and nominees are listed below:

Museums + Heritage Awards 2018 winners

Special Recognition Award

Winner:
The Wolfson Foundation

Project on a Limited Budget

Winner:

Grant Museum of Zoology, UCL, The Whale Weekender

Highly Commended:

Heritage Learning with Ferens Art Gallery, Explore Art (Under 5s and Families Gallery)

Shortlisted:

- Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery, Illustrating Harry Potter

- Maidstone Museums, Research & Display of Mummified Remains for 'Ancient Lives'

- The Natural History Museum at Tring, Dodos: Old Bird, New Tricks

Temporary or Touring Exhibition

Winner:

- The Salisbury Museum, Terry Pratchett: His World

Highly Commended:

- Science Museum, London, Robots: The 500-Year Quest to Make Machines Human

Shortlisted:

- People's History Museum, Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights

- National Trust, Prejudice & Pride

- Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Eric Gill: The Body

- Victoria and Albert Museum, You Say You Want a Revolution?

- National Museums Liverpool / Arts Council Collection, Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender & Identity

The International Award

Winner:

- Holland Open Air Museum and Kossmann.dejong, The Canon of Dutch History

Highly Commended

- The Museum of Islamic Art in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin State Museums,The Syria Initiative - Museum as Mediator of Shared Heritage

Shortlisted:

- Museum of South East Demark, Vikingeborgen/The Viking Fortress

- Canadian Museum of History, Canadian History Hall

- Vardemuseum in co-operation with Tinker imagineers, TIRPITZ - hidden stories on Danish west coast

- Denis Byrne Architects + Thirty Three Trees, Derrigimlagh: The Marconi Station / Alcock & Brown Landing Site

Volunteers of the Year Award – Team

Winner:

- Scottish Football Museum, Football Memories Volunteer Network

Highly Commended:

- Holocaust Survivors' Friendship Association Survivor speakers

Shortlisted:

- Old Royal Naval College, Painted Hall Conservation Volunteers

- National Trust - Buckland Abbey, Buckland Abbey Art Ambassador Volunteers

- Century of Stories - Leicestershire County Council, Bosworth Tommies

- Ripon Museum Trust, The Refurbishment Team

Volunteer of the Year Award – Individual

Winner:

- The Mid Hants Railway, Miss Jessica Arnold and Museum of London, Claire Madge

Shortlisted:

- National Football Museum, Allan Maull

- Canal & River Trust, National Waterways Museum, Barry Green

- Cornwall's Regimental Museum, Jenny Simmons

Innovation

Winner:

- Museum of London Archaeological Archive, #ArchiveLottery

Highly Commended:

- Science Museum Group, Space Descent VR with Tim Peake

Shortlisted:

– Tate, Preloaded and HTC VIVE, Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier

– Canal & River trust, National Waterways Museum and Jam Creative Studios, Boats of Every Description: An Interactive Journey

– National Gallery with Van Gogh Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Seiji Togo Memorial and Facebook, #SunflowersLive

Best Shop under £500k

Winner:

- Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, The Shop at RAMM

Highly Commended:

- Brontë Parsonage Museum, Brontë Parsonage Museum Shop

Shortlisted:

- National Museums Liverpool, World Museum Shop Redeveloped

- Bury Art Museum, Bury Art Shop

- Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, The University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre Shop

Best Shop over £500k
Winner:

- Tower Bridge, Tower Bridge 'Gift Shop Redesign'

Shortlisted:

- The Hepworth Wakefield Shop, The Hepworth Wakefield

- Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), YSP Shop

- British Library, British Library Retail

Permanent Exhibition

Winner:

- Brooklands Museum, The Brooklands Aircraft Factory & Flight Shed

Highly Commended:

- Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford Museums & Galleries, The David Hockney Gallery

- The Natural History Museum, Hintze Hall

Shortlisted:

- National Army Museum, National Army Museum Permanent Galleries

- National Science and Media Museum, part of the Science Museum Group, Wonderlab

- Haley Sharpe Design on behalf of The Postal Museum, The Postal Museum and Mail Rail

- Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, The Ashmolean Story

- The Natural History Museum, Hintze Hall

Educational Initiative

Winner:

- UCL Museums and Collections, Museums on Prescription

Highly Commended:

- Leeds Museums and Galleries, Exceed Expectations … with objects and artworks

Shortlisted

- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Sharing Shakespeare's Story

- The Royal Parks, Speak Up! The Hyde Park Debating Challenge

- Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Summer Club

- Chiltern Open Air Museum, Literacy Theme Days for Primary Schools

Marketing Campaign

Winner:
- The Postal Museum, Launching The Postal Museum and Mail Rail

Highly Commended:
- Victoria Art Gallery, Here Be Dragons marketing campaign

Shortlisted:
- Birmingham Museums Trust, Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender & Identity
- Oxford University Gardens, Libraries & Museums, Mindgrowing Campaign
- Bristol Aero Collection Trust, Aerospace Bristol

Fundraising Initiative of the Year

Winner:

- Haslemere Educational Museum, Museum in a Million

Highly Commended:

- Gairloch + District Heritage Co Ltd, Our Land, Our People, Our Story

Shortlisted

- Friends of RVCP + The Royal Victoria Chapel, Raise the Roof

- National Museums Scotland, Save the Galloway Hoard

- Watts Gallery - Artists' Village, #YayNotNeigh

Restoration or Conservation

Winner:

- The Royal Parks, Brompton Cemetery Conservation Project

Highly Commended:

- Norfolk Museums Service - Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Nelson & Norfolk: The conservation of the Ensign of Le Généreux

Shortlisted:

- National Museums Liverpool, Murillo's Virgin and Child in Glory Conserved

- Royal Museums Greenwich, Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I

- London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE, London Mithraeum