Oscars for museums
Design Museum in London named world’s leading culture destination 2017.
LONDON'S Design Museum, a space that explores the power of human invention through product, fashion, industrial and graphic design, has been named the Leading Culture Destination 2017 at a gala event which took place in London recently.
Pitched as the "Oscars for Museums," winners of the Leading Culture Destinations Awards are recognised for the quality and reach of their exhibits, experiences and educational programmes within the international "culture sphere". Taking the Oscar equivalent of "Best Picture", the Design Museum, which opened last November in Kensington, London, was awarded the top prize of the night.
A 10-year endeavour, the Design Museum houses 1,000 items in its permanent collection that exemplify some of the most ingenious and clever designs from the 20th and 21st centuries in a range of broad disciplines – architecture, engineering, fashion, graphics and the digital world.
The museum's temporary exhibits espouse the same philosophy. Opening later this month, the annual Beazley Designs of the Year exhibit will allow visitors globally to vote for their favourite design from among 60 design projects across categories like architecture, digital, fashion, graphics, product and transport.
Nominees include the Pussyhat, created in protest of Donald Trump's sexist remarks, and Wolfgang Tillmans' Remain Campaign for the Brexit referendum. New this year, the Culture Destination 2017 awards also created a Best Museum Late Night Experience prize to highlight museums that transform themselves into late night social hubs and engage the next generation of “cultural nomads”.
Taking the inaugural win this year is the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, where a night at the museum includes cocktails, jazz, spinning deejays, pan-Asian dining and movie screenings.
Here are some of the winners: The Leading Culture Destination 2017 overall winner: Design Museum (London, Britain) Exhibition of the Year: Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors at Hirshhorn Museum (Washington DC, US)
Museum Architecture of the Year: Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology (Lisbon, Portugal) Museum Shop of the Year: Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis, US) Restaurant of the Year: Fotografiska (Stockholm, Sweden) Digital Museum Experience of the Year: British Museum (London) Best New Museum of the Year Award winners (opened in the last 15 months):
Europe: Design Museum (London) North America: Tippet Rise Art Centre (Fishtail, Montana, US) Latin America: Casa Wabi (Puerto Escondido, Mexico)
Middle East/UAE/Africa: Etihad Museum (Dubai, UAE) Asia/Pacific: MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
The Traveller's Award winners: Emerging Cultural City of the Year: Athens, Greece
Art Hotel of the Year: The Walled Off Hotel (Bethlehem)
Soft Power Destination of the Year Award winners 2018: Best Soft Power Cultural Activation Award: Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Art Less The Davis without Immigrants (Wellesley, Massachusetts, US)
Best Soft Power Cultural Organisation Award: Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
Best Soft Power Cultural District Award: Watts Tower Arts Centre (Los Angeles, US)
Climate Smart Award: Climate Control at Manchester Museum (Manchester, Britain)
Best Museum Late Night Experience: Rubin Museum of Art (New York, US) — AFP Relaxnews