The 2016 has been awarded to the . The 拢100,000 prize, the biggest museum award in the world and the largest arts accolade in Britain, was presented to the London institution by the Duchess of Cambridge at its neighbouring establishment, the Natural History Museum, yesterday evening. Organised by听, the prize is annually given to a museum or gallery that has demonstrated imagination and ground-breaking achievements in the last 12 months. Previous winners include Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Whitworth, and the British Museum.
Selected for its significant transformation in 2015, the V&A has welcomed nearly 3.9 million visitors to its sites and engaged with 14.5 million audiences online through its innovative and record-breaking exhibitions. Notably, a recent retrospective on the late London-designer Alexander McQueen entitled Savage Beauty听attracted 493,043 viewers from 87 countries, while its Europe 1600鈥1815 galleries opened to great acclaim last December. The iconic art and design museum鈥檚 India Festival of exhibitions also drew an international audience with displays of the rich and varied culture of South Asia.
The V&A was handpicked from a line-up of nationwide finalists including (Bristol), (尝辞苍诲辞苍),听听(West Lothian), and听听(Yorkshire) by an expert jury comprised of: Gus Casely-Hayford, Curator and Art Historian; Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor; Ludmilla Jordanova, Professor of History and Visual Culture, Durham University; Cornelia Parker, artist; Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund.
Deuchar, who is also chair of this year鈥檚 judges, said: 鈥淭he V&A experience is an unforgettable one.听Its recent exhibitions,听from Alexander听McQueen听to The Fabric of India, and the opening of its new Europe 1600鈥1815 galleries, were all exceptional accomplishments 鈥 at once entertaining and challenging, rooted in contemporary scholarship, and designed to reach and affect the lives of a large and diverse national audience.鈥
Last night鈥檚 ceremony welcomed an array of guests from听artists Antony听Gormley,听Grayson听Perry, Michael Craig-Martin, Cornelia Parker, Mat听Collishaw,听Gavin听Turk and听Yinka听Shonibare to Museum Directors听Nicholas听Cullinan, (National Portrait Gallery), Sir Nicholas听Serota听(Tate),听Martin Roth (V&A),听Sir Michael Dixon (Natural History Museum),听Charles Saumarez-Smith (Royal Academy of Arts), and Axel R眉ger (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam).
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Credits
1.听Victoria and Albert Museum, London.听Photograph by Polly Braden.
