SHORTLIST for BEST EMERGING CULTURE DESTINATIONS OF

2015 ANNOUNCED

 

 

LEADING CULTURE DESTINATIONS AWARDS

THE OSCARS FOR MUSEUMS

 

 

 

Thirty one museums from around the world have been shortlisted for the prestigious 2015 Leading Culture Destinations Awards' 'Best Emerging Culture Destination' accolade.

 

The Award scheme, now in its second year, seeks to recognise and celebrate the success of cultural institutions worldwide, now more than ever defining themselves as centres of attraction for a range of social and leisure activities as well as simply enjoying works of art.

 

In recognition of this, the Leading Culture Destinations Awards jury judges the Emerging Destinations shortlist, which is made up of selected institutions from six global regions under five headings: Architecture and Spatial design; Exhibitions and Programming; Eating and Drinking; Shopping; and the Digital Experience. 

 

These same five criteria form the judging categories for the established institutions awards, whose shortlist is to be announced in early September.

 

Florian Wupperfeld, Co-founder of Leading Culture Destinations, said:

 

“We are delighted to present the second edition of the Leading Culture Destinations Awards and are particularly excited to be recognising emerging institutions across varied regions for the first time this year.

London, Paris and New York might be world leaders in museums and cultural institutions, but a growing number of cities in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America are starting to provide serious competition.

 

Until now, most awards for the cultural sector, have been country specific. The only global ranking lists are based on footfall, making them entirely quantitative and not qualitative.

 

The museums selected for the Leading Culture Destinations Awards are making a vital contribution to the

international cultural panorama and should also be considered in view of their visionary approach and offer, from iconic architecture to audacious programming and management structures, from cross-sector collaborations to Michelin-starred restaurants, late night openings and music performances.”

 

We want to recognise innovators and leaders from around the world, and to become a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities that characterise the sector while sharing the best practices by both established and emerging institutions.”

 

Now in its second year, the already well established and much respected scheme has expanded to include 'Emerging Cultural Destinations' from all over the world, sparking lively debate across creative communities everywhere about the changing role of museums and galleries. The 'Emerging' shortlist includes the recently opened Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, and the spectacular Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing, China, designed by internationally renowned museum architect Steven Holl.

 

Gail Dexter Lord, Co-Founder of museum consultancy Lord Cultural Resources and Chair of the Leading Culture Destinations Awards 2015 Jury, said:

 

“Museums are among cities' most valuable assets. The cultural capital that museums generate is a central factor for sustained economic empowerment. Emerging cities are increasingly investing in culture, and museums in particular, to attract visitors and establish their global “soft” power.

 

Museums around the world are fast adapting to current changes - from visitors' attitudes to funding policies - in order to maintain, or establish their status.

 

The Leading Culture Destinations Awards aim to shine a light on the most exceptional experiences museums offer their visitors and to share the best practices to respond or adapt to the changing, global cultural landscape.”

 

 

AWARDS JURY:

Gail Dexter Lord – Co-Founder of Lord Cultural Resources (Chair)

Jacob Pabst – CEO, ArtNet

Justine Simons – Head of Culture, Mayor of London's office and cultural Chair, World Cities Culture Forum

Karen Stone Talwar - Founder of Adventures in Art and former MD at Christies Travel

Linda Hewson - Creative Director at Selfridges & Co

Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst – Director at Pace Gallery

Neil Barrett - Fashion Designer, former Creative Director at Prada

Orsola de Castro - Fashion Designer and Entrepreneur

Pei Fen Sung – Arts Editor at Harper's Bazaar China

Richie Hawtin – Electronic Musician and DJ

Vanessa Arelle – Fellow of the Legatum Institute and Contributing Editor for Vogue Mexico/Latin America,

former Head of Cultural Affairs at the UK Mexican Embassy

Jenny Falckenberg - Founder of Unique Art Concepts

 

 

This year's shortlist for the 'Best Emerging Culture Destination of the Year' includes:

 

Europe                   Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

                                   The Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris (France)

                                   Barcelona Design Museum, Barcelona (Spain)

                                   Whitworth Gallery, Manchester (United Kingdom)

                                   Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (Russia)

                                   Fondazione Prada, Milan (Italy)

 

Asia                         Museum SAN, Wonj (South Korea)

                                   Asia Modern, Wufeng, Taichung (Taiwan)

                                   Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing (China)

                                   Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita (Japan)

                                   Pinacothèque De Paris (Singapore)

 

Africa                    Museum Mohammed VI, Rabat (Morocco)

                                   Museum MMP +, Marrakech (Morocco)

                                   Museum Ouidah, Benin (Fondation Zinzou)

Thread Senegal (Foundation Annie & Josef Albers)

 

North America                  Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg (Canada)

                                   Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, New York (USA)

                                   The Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (USA)

                                   Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (USA)

                                   Mana Contemporary, New Jersey (USA)

 

South America  The Biomuseo, Panama City (Panama)

Museum of Memory and Tolerance, Mexico City (Mexico)

                                   Museo Soumaya, Mexico City (Mexico)

                 La ene – Nuevo museo energía de arte contemporáneo, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

                                   Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janerio (Brazil)

                                   Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida, Merida (Mexico)

 

Middle East         Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, (Qatar)

                                   Oman National Museum, Moscat (Oman)

                                   Design Museum, Holon (Israel)

                                   Dubai Moving Image Museum, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

                                   Salsali Private Museum, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

                 

 

 

The shortlist for the 'Leading Culture Destinations of the Year': Architecture and Spatial design, presented by Ballymore ; Exhibitions and Programming; Eating and Drinking; Shopping, presented by Selfridges; and the Digital Experience, will be announced in early September.

 

All winners will be presented with their awards at a ceremony on Friday 9th October 2015 at The Jumeirah Hotel in London.

 

Keep up to date with news on the awards with #lcdawards #lcdtravel #lcdcities

 

Find out more at www.lcdwards.com

 

 

 

-Ends-

 

 

For further information and high res images please contact ING Media

 

Laura Colapietro / Nissrin Zaptia/ Shari Rautenbach

T +44 (0)20 7247 8334

E laura@ing-media.com / nissrin@ing-media.com / shari@ing-media.com

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

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 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' is due for publication in 2015.

 

 

 Interesting facts and figures about the global growth of cultural institutions and the impact of culture:

 

• All department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores.

Andy Warhol

 

•  The three most-attended art exhibitions of 2013 were not in Europe or North America, but in Taipei and Rio de Janeiro” The Economist

The Economist's 'Emerging Economies and the Culture Boom' report, 2014

 

• Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District is the only place in the world to house architecture designed by five individual Pritzker prize winners.

The Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC)

                                                         

• According to the current five-year plan, China was to have 3,500 museums by 2015.

The Economist, 2014

 

• The arts and culture sector is worth £7.7bn gross value added GVA to the UK economy

The Arts Council Report, 2015

 

 

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. 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.

www.nytimes.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. SELFRIDGES & CO:

Voted “Best Department Store in the World” for an unprecedented second time in 2014, Selfridges has been a retail pioneer for more than a century. Spread over six floors and ten acres of shopping space, Selfridges' flagship store is the largest store on London's iconic Oxford Street and a veritable UK landmark. The high end department store was launched by American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1909 and has since become a top London destination for fashion, luxury and retail theatre. www.selfridges.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. JUMEIRAH CARLTON TOWER:

Jumeirah Carlton Tower, situated in the heart of Knightsbridge, is a landmark hotel acknowledged as one of London's finest. The hotel is noted for its fine-dining, famous Peak Health Club & Spa and enviable location off Sloane Street – the Capital's most fashionable shopping area. Jumeirah Carlton Tower offers 216 rooms and suites, individually styled with a calm and contemporary feel, together with three dining options including The Rib Room Bar & Restaurant, Chinoiserie and The Club Room, and a glamorous, newly refurbished Ballroom which can hold up to 400 guests for a dinner. www.jumeirah.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. PRET A DINER:

From internal Show-Case to pop-up phenomenon: In 2004 Kofler & Kompanie presented the PRET A DINER-collection for the first time and brought lifestyle into catering business. Beside Food-Trends Kofler & Kompanie presented fine dining, art and ambience in Zeitgeist spirit. Every collection since then has been developed in tight collaboration with talented, creative and highly-decorated chefs from all over the world. In February 2011 the concept got enhanced to a pop-up restaurant, that so far has taken place in different European cities. Since 2011 the dining concept took stage in Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Zürich and also on Art Basel. Furthermore PRET A DINER performed a 'one-night-only' in a villa in Ibiza. Right on time for the German International Motor Show, the pop-up phenomenon Pret A Diner is coming BACK to Frankfurt. From 10th - 27th September Pret A Diner invites its guests to tour the world high above the rooftops of Frankfurt, to the culinary theme of "Around the World in 80 Bites". Street food from all over the world will entice the guests to step into unknown food territory and voyage on a culinary journey of discovery. This time, together with the German Chef Tim Mälzer and the best street food vendors of the region, Pret A Diner is taking street food high into the sky over the rooftops of the city. Street musicians, poets, DJs, artists, painters and other creative minds from all over the globe will join too. So fasten your seatbelt and get ready for an extraordinary culinary experience. www.pretadiner.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. ARTNET:

artnet is an online service provider for the international art market with headquarters in New York and Berlin. artnet has become the leading site for buying, selling, and researching Fine Art, Design, and Decorative objects online. A public company, artnet offers services aimed at providing price transparency for its users, and enabling them to contact galleries directly through the Gallery Network. The Price Database Fine Art and Design and the Price Database Decorative Art contain more than 9 million auction results dating back to 1985, from over 1,600 international auction houses. artnet Auctions & Private Sales is the world's leading online platform for buying and selling Modern and Contemporary paintings, photographs, sculptures, prints, and more. In addition to its core products, in 2014, the company launched artnet News, a 24/7 newswire, which provides readers access to the events, trends, developments, and people that shape the art market today. www.artnet.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER. BOGHOSSIAN:

For over 100 years - now celebrating the 6th generation of the family – Boghossian is internationally recognized as the acme of High Jewellery. Art of past and present world cultures are the constant source of inspiration.  Orient Contemporain and Art through Innovation best describe Boghossian.The House's unique pieces are born of a magical fusion of colours, sophisticated techniques and artistry. The jewels are technical marvels audaciously mixing the rarest gems to innovative yet timeless aesthetics. With headquarters based in Geneva Switzerland, Boghossian proudly present their unique creations to jewellery connoisseurs in their exclusive Boutiques in London - Old Bond Street -  Geneva and Hong Kong.With a longstanding passion for the arts, Boghossian is genuinely honoured to be a partner of the 2015 LCD Award and to support the vibrancy and vitality of museums around the world. www.bogh-art.com

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - AMPERSAND TRAVEL:

Specialising in luxury tailor-made travel to the Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia and the Far East, Ampersand Travel create journeys that fully engage the senses and constantly surprise and delight. With over 10 years of experience, Ampersand Travel handcraft holidays for individuals and small groups using the vast knowledge of specialists living and working in the specific region. Their experiences give you the most cutting edge and up-to-date information on tailor made holidays, restaurants, shopping, resorts, boutique hotels and villas. http://www.ampersandtravel.com/

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - 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/

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - PROSKY:

Specialising in bespoke flight programs in private jets and for groups, PRO SKY has offices in Cologne, Paris, Zurich and São Paulo. With a unique know-how acquired by arranging well over 1,000 group flights every year, PRO SKY'S committed flight professionals ensure that all flights and transfers are planned to your precise requirements, creating an unforgettable customized travel experience. http://www.pro-sky.com/

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - BALLYMORE:

Ballymore is an international property investment and development company, focused on large scale projects across Europe. A leader in urban regeneration, Ballymore boasts an impressive breadth of knowledge in building mixed use developments combining office, retail, hotels and leisure facilities. http://www.ballymoregroup.com/

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - ASSOULINE:

A global lifestyle brand known worldwide their graphically dynamic books on fashion, art, architecture, photography, design, and travel, Assouline's blend of classic and contemporary style has created a niche for every bibliophile, with unique books that are works of art in their own right. http://www.assouline.com/

 

ABOUT LCD AWARDS PARTNER - TALBOT RUNHOF:

Launched in 2000, Talbot Runhof have since made a name for themselves with glamourous cocktail and evening dresses that can be found in the best boutiques all over the world. Over the years, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof have applied their vision to sportswear, outerwear, furs, knitwear, scarves, belts, jewellery and shoes and bags. http://www.talbotrunhof.com