Manchester Museum shortlisted for ‘world’s largest’ award following huge revamp

Manchester Museum has been shortlisted for the ‘world’s largest’ award for museums thanks in part to its huge £15m redevelopment.

The attraction, located on Oxford Road, was the most visited indoor museum in the north last year, with close to 800,000 visitors, despite only reopening to the public following its revamp in February.

With more than 4.5 million objects and exhibits focused on everything from Chinese culture to fossils, as well as the first permanent gallery in the country celebrating the South Asian diaspora, the museum is hailed as being one of the largest university museums in the UK.

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Today, Manchester Museum has been announced as one of the finalists for this year’s Art Fund Museum of the Year award, alongside the National Portrait Gallery in London, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Craven Museum in North Yorkshire, and Young V&A at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony at the National Gallery in London on July 10 and will receive £120,000. £15,000 will be given to each of the four other finalists – bringing the total prize money to £180,000.

Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum, said: "Manchester Museum's redevelopment was the result of 10 years' collective endeavour so being shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year is a moment of joy for everyone to share in, from staff and partners to our communities and Manchester itself. It is affirmation of museums' power to bring people together in building a more inclusive, hopeful future."

Bosses said that more than one in seven of its visitors in the last year have remarked that it has been their first time at a museum. Visitor numbers, in general, at Manchester Museum are also up by 157 per cent compared to 2019.

The judging panel for the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024, which is regarded as the world’s largest museum prize, includes broadcaster Vick Hope, Historic Royal Palaces’ Financial Director Anupam Ganguli and Sir John Leighton, former Director-General at National Galleries of Scotland.

Jenny Waldman, Director at Art Fund, said: "Congratulations to Manchester Museum on being shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024. Each of our finalists truly has something for everyone and all have community at the very heart of their programming.

“Their commitment to innovative partnerships whilst operating within an extremely challenging funding environment is incredible, and I'm so pleased to see the way they support and centre young people through their work. Across a wide range of size and scale, these organisations are all real leaders in their field. I urge everyone to go and visit these extremely special spaces."