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| 'Unforgettable' V&A wins museum of the year award | 'Unforgettable' V&A wins museum of the year award |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| The V&A has been named 2016 museum of the year, winning the UK’s largest arts prize, for providing visitors with what judges called an unforgettable experience. | The V&A has been named 2016 museum of the year, winning the UK’s largest arts prize, for providing visitors with what judges called an unforgettable experience. |
| The London museum was praised for an exhibition programme that included its most visited ever show, an Alexander McQueen retrospective, and the opening of restored permanent galleries devoted to European arts and crafts from 1600-1815. | The London museum was praised for an exhibition programme that included its most visited ever show, an Alexander McQueen retrospective, and the opening of restored permanent galleries devoted to European arts and crafts from 1600-1815. |
| The Duchess of Cambridge announced the winner at a ceremony barely five minutes walk away from the V&A – across the road at the Natural History Museum. | The Duchess of Cambridge announced the winner at a ceremony barely five minutes walk away from the V&A – across the road at the Natural History Museum. |
| Related: Art Fund Museum of the Year 2016 finalists – in pictures | |
| Stephen Deuchar, the director of the Art Fund and chair of the judges, said: “The V&A experience is an unforgettable one. Its recent exhibitions, from Alexander McQueen to the Fabric of India, and the opening of its new Europe 1600-1815 galleries were all exceptional accomplishments – at once entertaining and challenging, rooted in contemporary scholarship, and designed to reach and affect the lives of a large and diverse national audience. | Stephen Deuchar, the director of the Art Fund and chair of the judges, said: “The V&A experience is an unforgettable one. Its recent exhibitions, from Alexander McQueen to the Fabric of India, and the opening of its new Europe 1600-1815 galleries were all exceptional accomplishments – at once entertaining and challenging, rooted in contemporary scholarship, and designed to reach and affect the lives of a large and diverse national audience. |
| “It was already one of the best-loved museums in the country: this year it has indisputably become one of the best museums in the world.” | “It was already one of the best-loved museums in the country: this year it has indisputably become one of the best museums in the world.” |
| The museum wins £100,000, the biggest museum prize in the world and the largest arts award in the UK. | The museum wins £100,000, the biggest museum prize in the world and the largest arts award in the UK. |
| It was by far the biggest gallery on this year’s shortlist, which also included the Arnolfini in Bristol, Bethlem Museum of the Mind in London, Jupiter Artland in Edinburgh and York Art Gallery. | It was by far the biggest gallery on this year’s shortlist, which also included the Arnolfini in Bristol, Bethlem Museum of the Mind in London, Jupiter Artland in Edinburgh and York Art Gallery. |
| Judges said the sheer number of visitors to the V&A was impressive: 3.9 million physical visitors to V&A sites, 14.5 million online visitors and 90,000 V&A members, the highest number in its 164-year history. | Judges said the sheer number of visitors to the V&A was impressive: 3.9 million physical visitors to V&A sites, 14.5 million online visitors and 90,000 V&A members, the highest number in its 164-year history. |
| Organisers said the prize was given to an outstanding museum that, in their view, had shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement across the preceding 12 months. | Organisers said the prize was given to an outstanding museum that, in their view, had shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement across the preceding 12 months. |
| It also recognised that, despite funding challenges and an uncertain political climate, the UK museums sector was thriving. | It also recognised that, despite funding challenges and an uncertain political climate, the UK museums sector was thriving. |
| The V&A is flying high, although it has also become embroiled in controversy over the past year. It was splashed across newspaper front pages when it was claimed it had turned down an offer of some of Margaret Thatcher’s handbags and dresses. | The V&A is flying high, although it has also become embroiled in controversy over the past year. It was splashed across newspaper front pages when it was claimed it had turned down an offer of some of Margaret Thatcher’s handbags and dresses. |
| The museum denied any formal offer had been made, and last month its director, Martin Roth, told Radio 4’s Front Row that he would love to have a collection of the former prime minister’s handbags at the museum. “You can’t make an exhibition about the 70s or 80s without Maggie Thatcher’s handbag,” he said. | The museum denied any formal offer had been made, and last month its director, Martin Roth, told Radio 4’s Front Row that he would love to have a collection of the former prime minister’s handbags at the museum. “You can’t make an exhibition about the 70s or 80s without Maggie Thatcher’s handbag,” he said. |
| Related: The Guardian view on the Bradford photography row: northern exposure | Editorial | |
| The museum also upset many people by agreeing a deal with the National Media Museum in Bradford in which it became responsible for the Royal Photographic Society collection. The transfer of more than 400,000 objects from Bradford to London was labelled “cultural vandalism” by councillors and “absolute metropolitanism” by an MP. | |
| The V&A was again in the headlines in April when it forbade visitors to its underwear exhibition from sketching – a condition of some loan agreements, the museum said in its defence. | The V&A was again in the headlines in April when it forbade visitors to its underwear exhibition from sketching – a condition of some loan agreements, the museum said in its defence. |
| But any negative headlines were far outweighed by positive ones in the eyes of judges. More than 493,043 visitors from 87 countries went to the McQueen show, called Savage Beauty, making it the museum’s most visited exhibition. Meanwhile, its 2013 David Bowie blockbuster continued its global tour last year, visiting Paris, Melbourne and Groningen. It opens in Bologna this month and Tokyo next year. | But any negative headlines were far outweighed by positive ones in the eyes of judges. More than 493,043 visitors from 87 countries went to the McQueen show, called Savage Beauty, making it the museum’s most visited exhibition. Meanwhile, its 2013 David Bowie blockbuster continued its global tour last year, visiting Paris, Melbourne and Groningen. It opens in Bologna this month and Tokyo next year. |
| The judges for this year’s prize were Deuchar, the artist Cornelia Parker, the curator and art historian Gus Casely-Hayford, the BBC arts editor Will Gompertz, and Ludmilla Jordanova, a professor of history and visual culture at Durham University. | The judges for this year’s prize were Deuchar, the artist Cornelia Parker, the curator and art historian Gus Casely-Hayford, the BBC arts editor Will Gompertz, and Ludmilla Jordanova, a professor of history and visual culture at Durham University. |
| Previously known as the Gulbenkian prize and then the Art Fund prize, former winners range from the enormous, for example the British Museum in 2011, to the tiny, such as the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, east London, in 2013. Last year’s winner was the Whitworth gallery in Manchester. | Previously known as the Gulbenkian prize and then the Art Fund prize, former winners range from the enormous, for example the British Museum in 2011, to the tiny, such as the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, east London, in 2013. Last year’s winner was the Whitworth gallery in Manchester. |