26 Jun 2017
The Leading Culture Destinations Awards, coined as 'the Oscars for museums' are delighted to announce that they will be returning for the fourth consecutive year, with a star studded awards ceremony on Friday 29th September 2017 at The Trafalgar St. James.
Celebrating the vibrancy and vitality of museums around the world, Leading Culture Destinations Awards are partnering with some of the industry's most influential personalities to create the jury. Joining the panel are architect Andrea Morgante; Germany's number one art consultant, Mon Muellerschoen; creative director at David Collins, Simon Rawlins; CEO of Design Hotels, Claus Sendlinger; CEO Each x Other, Jenny Mannerheim; musician Petite Meller; and BAFTA nominated filmmaker Greta Bellamancina.
Aiming to shine a light on the most exceptional contributions to cultural life, from institutions to emerging destinations, the award categories celebrate museum's exhibitions, architecture, shops and restaurants, as well art influenced hotels and cultural cities. Also acknowledged is the influence of soft power, and those cultural organisations, cities or districts that have powerful influence and impact based on their excellence, relevance, transparency, accountability and sustainability (a full list of the categories can be found below).
New for this year is the inaugural 'Climate Smart' Award which will recognise a museum or large scale public art project that has made a significant educational contribution to the fight against climate change. This Award will be determined by a distinct jury led by long-time travel industry leader Dr Tom Selanniemi, director of the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia; alongside a team of experts.
Florian Wupperfeld, co-founder of Leading Culture Destinations, has commented, “We are delighted to present the fourth edition of the Leading Culture Destinations Awards. The Awards are really about shining light on the museums that are making a vital contribution to the international cultural panorama. They are considered in view of their visionary approach and offering; from iconic architecture to audacious programming and management structures, cross-sector collaborations to Michelin-starred restaurants, and late night openings and music performances. Long gone are the times where museums were just places of cultural pilgrimage but now museums have transformed into the smart social hubs of the 21 century and a key driver for tourism as a whole.”
We want to build community around established and emerging cultural destinations, recognise innovators and leaders from around the world, and to become a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities that characterise the sector, whilst sharing the best practices by both established and emerging institutions.”
Keep up to date with news on the Awards with #lcdawards #lcdtravel
Find out more at www.lcdawards.com
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For further information:
Florian Wupperfeld, florian@leadingculturedestinations.com
NOTES TO EDITORS:
THE AWARDS
The Leading Culture Destinations Awards has five parts:
1) The Leading Culture Destination of the Year includes five categories:
- Exhibition of the Year
- Museum Architecture of the Year
- Museum Restaurant of the Year
- Museum Shop of the Year
- Digital Museum of the Year
- The Overall Leading Culture Destination of the Year
2) The 'New Museum of the Year' category is dedicated to museums and institutions opened in the last 15 months. Awards are made for:
- Best New Museum of the Year - Asia Pacific
- Best New Museum of the Year - Europe
- Best New Museum of the Year - Middle East / UAE / Africa
- Best New Museum of the Year - North America
- Best New Museum of the Year - South & Central America
3) Soft Power Destination Awards recognise the cultural organisations, cities or districts that have powerful influence and impact based on their excellence, relevance, transparency, accountability and sustainability. The categories are:
- Best Soft Power Cultural Organisation Award
- Best Soft Power Cultural City Award
- Best Soft Power Cultural District Award
4) The Traveller's Awards are made for:
- Best Art Hotel
- Best Emerging Culture City of the year
5) The inaugural 'Climate Smart' award will recognise a museum or large scale public art project that has made the most significant educational contribution to the fight against climate change. Its focus will be on novel education initiatives which seek to transform public behaviour and therefore create a valuable shift towards a more sustainable climate resilient future. It will have a special jury as noted below.
THE JURY
Andrea Morgante, architect, designer & founder of Shiro Studio which includes projects such as Ferrari Museum.
Mon Muellerschoen, art advisor, and named Germany's No1 Art Consultant by Manager Magazin
Simon Rawlings, Creative Director at David Collins, designed Nobu, Connaught Bar or Wolseley London
Claus Sendlinger, CEO and Founder of Design Hotels, recognized global travel aficionado
Jenny Mannerheim, CEO Each x Other, gallery & fashion brand, Paris
Petite Meller, musician & artist, people consider her to be the next Lady Gaga
Greta Bellamacina, Poet and BAFTA nominated filmmaker, loved by Stephen Fry
The Climate Smart Award will be determined by a distinct jury led by long-time travel industry leader Dr. Tom Selanniemi, Director of the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia - Finland
Alongside :
Professor Geoffrey Lipman, former President of WTTC and Co-founder SUNx - Belgium
Felix Dodds,former Executive Director UN StakeholderForum and, author and Co-founder SUNx- USA
Ignace Schops ,Goldman Award Winner, President of Europarc Federation and Author - Belgium
Maureen Lipman CBE, Award-winning Actress and Author - UK
Tom Goldberg MBE , Chairman AWI Group –UK
Richard Prosser, Chairman of Audley Travel- UK
Rose Mukogo, former Director of Research at Zimbabwe Tourism Authority- Zimbabwe
Paul Wilke, former Global PR Manager for Visa- USA
Jeanine Pires, former Minister of Brazilian Tourist Board- Brazil
Madan Bezbaruah, former Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Tourism- India
ABOUT LEADING CULTURE DESTINATIONS
Leading Culture Destinations is a platform created to explore, recognise and promote the world's best destinations for cultural experiences.
Set up by Florian Wupperfeld and Bakul Patki, together with a team of art and travel enthusiasts, it aims at sharing knowledge and recommendations from a global network of leading professionals from the arts, fashion, music and film.
The company aims to support both emerging and existing arts institutions and travel destinations, highlighting the practices and solutions that raise the standards of the cultural sector worldwide.
FLORIAN WUPPERFELD - FOUNDER & PUBLISHER
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 is former Creative Director of the Soho House Group.
AIDAN WALKER - CONTENT DIRECTOR
Aidan completed an MA in History from Cambridge University. Over the past 20 years he was Editorial Director of UK design magazines including FX, Blueprint, Grand Designs, Icon and Onoffice. As director of Aidan Walker Associates, he now curates and chairs conferences and seminar programmes such as the International New York Times' Art for Tomorrow conference in Doha (Qatar), and the conference and seminar programme for Design Shanghai. His book 'The Ecology of the Soul' was published in February 2016.
ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNERS:
- THE NEW YORK TIMES:
The New York Times (NYT) is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18th 1851. It has won 112 Pullitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization.
– THE TRAFALGAR ST. JAMES:
The Trafalgar will launch as a brand new hotel, The Trafalgar St. James in early autumn 2017. Tucked away on the south side of the world-famous Trafalgar Square, the official centre of London, the hotel will bring a new level of excitement, vibrancy and sense of discovery to the capital, capturing the hearts of Londoners and visitors alike. The hotel will feature 131 rooms, with 14 suites (including 2 signature suites), an all-day dining grill restaurant, 1805; a year-round outdoor space, The Rooftop; and a downstairs private lounge, Biblio. The hotel will be part of the Curio Collection. Connect with the brand on Twitter and Instagram @TrafalgarSW1.
– INDIGITAL MEDIA:
InDigital Media Group provides comprehensive film and photography production services to the fashion and luxury brands industries. An established global leader in catwalk, beauty, backstage and editorial photography, the photographic team at InDigital has decades of experience in delivering high quality content to the world's major brands, publication houses and broadcast syndicators. With offices now in New York, London, Milan and Sydney, InDigital Media is one of the most extensive production resources in the industry. http://indigital.tv/
- SUNx:
SUNx stands for the Strong Universal Network – a legacy initiative of Maurice Strong, one of the fathers of Sustainable Development and Secretary General of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit the precursor of the UNSDG's (Sustainable Development Goals) and the Paris Climate Agreement. It's eXchange solution will be delivered through a cloud connected network of community climate adaptation centres, which help deliver (low) “Impact Travel” transformation.
