The Museums + Heritage Awards, now in their 17th year, continue to generate public recognition for the winners and shortlistees and have been instrumental in helping many to secure funding and support from key stakeholders
They recognise the innovators and leaders of the UK and international museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions and there are 14 awards are up for grabs this year
Following the 1 February deadline, which saw hundreds of entries, the judging panel, made up of five sector leaders, has deliberated long and hard over this year’s M+H Awards entries to make its final shortlist
Judges include this year’s chair Diane Lees, Director General of the Imperial War Museums; Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA; Matthew Tanner, Chief Executive of the SS Great Britain Trust; Stephen Duncan, Commercial and Tourism Director for Historic Scotland and Maggie Appleton, Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Museum.
Diane Lees, chair of the judging panel and Director General of the Imperial War MuseumsIt's been another year of amazing creativity despite the challenges of our sector. The shortlist features projects of great innovation and community focus making the job of judging very difficult
Ceremony
The award winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony at the historic staterooms of 8 Northumberland Avenue on 15 May where more than 300 industry professionals will converge in the heart of London to find out who has triumphed.
Among last year’s big winners were Brooklands Museum, The Brooklands Aircraft Factory & Flight Shed for the best Permanent Exhibition and Holland Open Air Museum and Kossmann.dejong, The Canon of Dutch History in the best International Project.
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2019 shortlist
Permanent Exhibition of the Year
Scottish Design Galleries – ZMMA on behalf of V&A Dundee
World Gallery – Horniman Museum and Gardens
Bolton’s Egypt – Bolton Museum with The Creative Core
The D-Day Story – Portsmouth Museums
Endeavour Galleries Project – National Maritime Museum
RAF Museum RAF Centenary Programme – RAF Museum
Being Brunel – SS Great Britain Trust
Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year
Kew Gardens Great Pagoda – Austin-Smith:Lord on behalf of Historic Royal Palaces
Temperate House Precinct Project – Donald Insall Associates on behalf of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
English Heritage’s Iron Bridge Conservation Project – English Heritage
Painted Hall Project – Old Royal Naval College
Saving Samson – Plowden & Smith Ltd and Norfolk Museums Service
St Albans Museum + Gallery – St Albans Museums
Sponsored by Rochester Bridge Trust
Temporary or Touring Exhibiton of the Year
The National Tour of Tim Peake’s Spacecraft – Science Museum Group
Michael Pendry’s ‘Les Colombes’ #SalisburyCityofDoves – Salisbury Cathedral
Spanish Flu: Nursing During History’s Deadliest Pandemic – Florence Nightingale Museum
China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors – National Museums Liverpool
Fatberg! – Museum of London
Ladies of Quality & Distinction – The Foundling Museum
Sponsored by Displayways
Educational Initiative of the Year
The Aerospace Bristol Learning Programme – Aerospace Bristol
Battle Bus – London Transport Museum
Leeds Curriculum – Leeds Museums & Galleries
Green Spaces, Natural Faces – Maidstone Museum Learning Team
The Jolly Postman Programme – The Postal Museum
Royal Air Force Museum – STAAR – Summer Time Advanced Aerospace Residency
Innovation of the Year
They Shall Not Grow Old – 14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museum
Inside Out – Scottish Submarine Centre – Scottish Submarine Trust
Museum ExplorAR augmented reality experience – Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales in partnership with Jam Creative Studios
Hold the World – Natural History Museum in partnership with Factory 42, SKY VR and Sir David Attenborough
Space Lives – Royal Museums Greenwich
China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors – National Museums Liverpool
Sponsored by The Hub
Partnership of the Year
Recognising Volunteers in the City of London and across the UK – Tempo & Tower Bridge
Multaka-Oxford – Oxford University Gardens, Libraries & Museums
First World War Centenary Partnership – Imperial War Museums
Dippy on Tour, a natural history adventure – Natural History Museum with Dorset County Museum, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Ulster Museum
Protecting and sharing the Heritage of Britain’s Oldest Theatre – Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Archives and Theatre Collection
Finding Fatberg: Investigation and analysis of the Whitechapel Monster – Museum of London, Cranfield University & Thames Water
Supported by Arts Council England
International Project of the Year, less than £1m
Escher Op Reis/Escher’s Journey – Fries Museum/XPEX Experience Experts
Instinct, a beastly exhibition – MAS in Young Hands, 16 young volunteers aged 16 to 26
Gapu-Monuk Saltwater: Journey to Sea Country – Australian National Maritime Museum
Hirshhorn Eye – Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution
International Project of the Year, more than £1m
Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination – The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sir John Monash Centre – The Commonwealth Government of Australia
Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again – National Library of Ireland
Royal Alberta Museum Renewal – Royal Alberta Museum
Museum at the Gateway Arch redevelopment, St Louis – Haley Sharpe Design Ltd
Limited Budget Project of the Year
Wonder Women of Space Exhibition – Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath
“The Checks” Commemorating the Mining Communities of Kent – Studio Evans Lane as part of Historic England’s “Immortalised” exhibition
Chichester Roman Week 2018 – The Novium Museum
Happy Older People – National Museums Liverpool
Climate Hack – University of Cambridge Museums
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Spellbound: Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft – Ashmolean Museum
New Galleries – Royal Museums Greenwich
Bash Street’s Back at The McMenace – The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, Leisure & Culture Dundee
Look at this Absolute Unit – The Museum of English Rural Life
Come to Life – Natural History Museum
Sponsored by BVA BDRC
Volunteer Team of the Year
Holbourne Volunteers – The Holburne Museum
Liverpool Women’s History Group – National Museums Liverpool
Volunteers of Calderdale Industrial Museum Association – Calderdale Industrial Museum
Multaka-Oxford Volunteer Team – History of Science Museum and Pitt Rivers Museums, University of Oxford Museums
Project Digby – Leicestershire County Council
In Partnership with the Association of Independent Museums
Individual Volunteer of the Year
Carl Clee ‘Our Bee Man’ – National Museums Liverpool
Dave Simpson – Ravenglass Railway Museum
John Jenkins – The D-Day Story, Portsmouth Museums
Gordon Clitheroe – Pickering Beck Isle Museum
Katie Watt – HMS Caroline, National Museum of the Royal Navy
In Partnership with the Association of Independent Museums
Shop of the Year turnover more than £500k
BALTIC Shop Refurbishment – BALTIC Shop, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors exhibition shop at World Museum – National Museums Liverpool
RAF Museum RAF Centenary Programme – RAF Museum
V&A Dundee Shop – Lumsden Design for V&A Dundee
The Shop at Japan House London – Japan House London
Shop of the Year turnover less than £500k
Insight Investment Photography Shop – Royal Museums Greenwich
Aerospace Bristol Gift Shop – Aerospace Bristol
Retail Transformation at the Florence Nightingale Museum – Florence Nightingale Museum
