Leighton House shortlisted for world’s largest museum prize
Leighton House has been shortlisted for the world’s largest museum prize, with the chance to win £120,000.
The museum in Holland Park Road, Kensington, has been selected as one of five finalists for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023, the world’s largest museum prize.
The former studio-home of leading Victorian artist, Frederic Leighton, has been recognised for the £8million Hidden Gem to National Treasure redevelopment, which saw the museum reopen in October 2022.
Its restoration, supported by Kensington and Chelsea council and the Friends of Leighton House alongside a £1.6million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, included painstaking research to recover and recreate Leighton’s original collection.
Going beyond the presentation of the home of a Victorian painter to explore broader themes of identity and culture, the museum has also been recognised for its inspiring collaborations with contemporary artists, makers and creatives.
From hand-crafted furniture by displaced Syrian artisans, to Shahrzad Ghaffari’s Oneness mural and Maya Youssef’s musical qanun commission the museum continues Frederic Leighton’s celebration of the wider world.
The four other shortlisted museums include The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, The MAC in Belfast, the Natural History Museum in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, and the Scapa Flow Museum in Orkney.
The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony at the British Museum today. The winner will be gifted £120,000 and the four other finalists will receive £15,000, bringing the total prize money to £180,000.
Daniel Robbins, Senior Curator said: “We are all thrilled to be on the shortlist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023; to have our transformational project recognised in this way means so much to all our staff, volunteers and supporters.
“The public reaction since reopening has been fantastic and we are determined to continue reinventing what a house museum can be.”
The 2023 judging panel, chaired by Art Fund director Jenny Waldman, includes artist Larry Achiampong, historian and broadcaster Mary Beard, Art fund Trustee Abadesi Osunsade, and Director of National Museums Liverpool, Laura Pye.
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