Today, Leading Culture Destinations Awards, coined by the press as “The Oscars for Museums”, announced the shortlist nominations for its fifth edition, shining a light on the most impactful cultural destinations all over the globe. The LCD Awards celebrate the most exceptional contributions to cultural life that these institutions have to offer – showcasing some of the world's best emerging destinations and the experiential shift for them to become places to dine, shop, work and even sleep!

London and New York have triumphed as the leading cities in the cultural sphere with three nominations apiece, while the countries of South Africa and the UAE have also each received three nominations thanks to the opening of the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town; the first major museum in Africa dedicated to contemporary art and the largest museum to open in Africa in more than a century, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi; the latest addition to the UAE's burgeoning treasure chest of cultural jewels.

Whilst institutions in Europe and North America are still dominating the international field with 13 and 12 nominations respectively, new museum openings in South Africa, Abu Dhabi and Morocco (the YSL Museum) have helped Africa and the Middle East to make their mark with eight nominations overall for this part of the world.

Florian Wupperfeld, Co-founder of Leading Culture Destinations, commented: “The nominees for the 2018 Leading Culture Destinations Awards have been chosen from the most impressive set of cultural institutions yet in the history of these Awards, with emerging destinations really starting to step into the limelight. This absolutely underlines the growing importance of cultural tourism, which in London alone accounts for 80 per cent of visitors and £3.2 billion in revenue each year.

An exciting new category for this year is the Best Cultural Nomad of the Year, sponsored by Avis. This category highlights the intrepid travellers that are creating the most inspirational digital content on the world of art and culture and using their influence to encourage their followers to seek out unique, localised, cultural experiences after being globalised through brands.”

A jury of leading artists and cultural tastemakers including art historian and writer Lisa Hilton, artist Arik Levy and Joe La Placa of the Cardi Gallery will cast the final votes and a winner in each category will be announced at an award ceremony on Friday 28th September 2018 at the South Kensington Club in London.

The nominees for the Leading Culture Destinations Awards 2018 are:

Leading Culture Destinations of the Year – Exhibition

• Keith Haring at Stedeljik Museum Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• Philippe Parreno at Martin Gropius Bau (Berlin, Germany)
• Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends at MOMA (New York, USA)

Leading Culture Destinations of the Year – Architecture

• Paracas Museum (Barclay & Crousse) (Paracas, Peru)
• YSL Museum (KO studio) (Marrakech, Morocco)
• Zeitz MOCAA (Heatherwick) (Cape Town, South Africa)

Leading Culture Destinations of the Year – Restaurant

• The Garden Café at Garden Museum (London, UK)
• Otium at Broad (Los Angeles, USA)
• Aura at National Gallery Singapore (Singapore)

Leading Culture Destinations of the Year – Shop

• Gallery & Co. at National Gallery Singapore (Singapore)
• V&A (London, UK)
• MUMOK (Vienna, Austria)

Leading Culture Destinations of the Year – Digital Experience

• Pepper programme at Smithsonian (Washington DC, USA)
• TeamLab Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)
• Cooper Hewitt - Immersion Room (New York, USA)

New Culture Destinations of the Year – Europe

• The Marshall House (Reykjavik, Iceland)
• National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens, Greece)
• Foundation Carmignac (Porquerolle Island, France)

New Culture Destinations of the Year – North America

• ICA at VCU (Richmond, USA)
• Remai Modern (Saskatoon, Canada)
• Museum of Contemporary Art (Toronto, Canada)

New Culture Destinations of the Year – Latin America

• Museum of Underwater Archaeology (Campeche, Mexico)
• Paracas Museum (Lima, Peru)

New Culture Destinations of the Year – Africa / Middle East

• Louvre Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
• YSL Museum (Marrakech, Morocco)
• Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town, South Africa)

New Culture Destinations of the Year – Asia Pacific

• Yayoi Kusama Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
• Tai Kwun (Hong Kong)
• Design Society, Shekou (Shenzhen, China)

Soft Power Destinations of the Year – Best Activation

• Bursting at the Seams: Philippine Detention Centers, Ayala Museum – (Makati, Philippines)
• Susan Philipz - Who by Fire (Valletta, Malta)
• Deaccessioning to Diversify, Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, USA)

Soft Power Destinations of the Year – Best Cultural Organisation

• Museum of Vancouver (Vancouver, Canada)
• Museum of Tomorrow (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• Louvre Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

Soft Power Destinations of the Year – Best Cultural District

• Knowledge Quarter (London, UK)
• Fogo Island (Newfoundland, Canada)
• Maboneng Precinct (Johannesburg, South Africa)

The 'Climate Smart Award', presented by SunX

• The Climate Museum (New York, USA)
• The Hangzhou Low Carbon Science & Technology Museum (Hangzhou, China)
• The Science Express (India)

Emerging Culture City of the Year, presented by Avis

• Lisbon (Portugal)
• Medellin (Colombia)
• Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Art Hotel of the Year, presented by Avis

• Le Royal Monceau (Paris, France)
• Chateau La Coste (Le Puy-Sainte-Reparade, France)
• Detroit Foundation Hotel (Detroit, USA)

Best Cultural Nomad of the Year, presented by Avis

• Lost With Purpose
• Petite Passport
• Art Weekenders
• Time Travel Turtle
• WanderlustingK
• Neil Hennessy-Vass

The 2018 Jury

Touria El Glaoui: Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

http://1-54.com/london/touria-el-glaoui/

Joe La Placa: Director of The Cardi Gallery, Mayfair.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_La_Placa

Carlo Brandelli: Designer and sculptor.

https://www.carlobrandelli.com

Helena Egan: Tourism and place-making specialist.

http://gte-forum.com/speaker/helena-egan/

Arik Levy: Contemporary Artist.

https://www.ariklevy.fr

Maximiliano Arrocet: Director at Amanda Levete Architects.

https://www.ala.uk.com/about-us/people/maximiliano-arrocet/

Lutz Henke: Cultural scientist and curator.

http://lutzhenke.de

Lisa Hilton: Art Historian and writer.

http://lisa-hilton.com/about/

For more information about the Leading Culture Destinations Awards for 2018, please visit www.leadingculturedestinations.com.

 - ENDS -

For editorial enquiries, please contact olga@leadingculturedestinations.com

For PR enquiries, please contact The Brighter Group, a Finn Partners Company, at LCD@finnpartners.com

FLORIAN WUPPERFELD

Florian studied film production at UCLA in Los Angeles before starting his career as a trend scout in 1997, working with Mercedes Benz on the launch of the Smart car. He has acted as a consultant to numerous brands, developing extensive networks with creative communities across the world, including: BMW, Adidas, The Soho House Group, Hermes, LVMH, Colette and The New York Times. He has acted formally as a creative and media director for the Soho House Group internationally.

LCD AWARDS 2018 PARTNERS

THE NEW YORK TIMES

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AVIS

JACOBS MEDIA

INDIGITAL MEDIA
YT CREATIVE MEDIA
SOUTH KENSINGTON CLUB