The Leading Culture Destinations Awards (LDCA), sponsored by Bang & Olufsen are better known as “The Oscars for Museums,” were announced this week at a star-studded ceremony at The Langham, in London.The arts and culture sector is worth £7.7bn Gross Value Added to the UK economyas a whole and in 2014 Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, said “Four out of five visitors state that ‘culture, art and heritage’ are their main reasons for coming to London. Indeed, cultural tourism generates £3.2 billion a year for the local (London) economy and supports around 80,000 jobs through 17 million visitors in the capital alone.”
Leading Culture Destinations is a platform created to explore, recognise and promote the world’s best and less obvious destinations for imaginative cultural experiences. Originated by Florian Wupperfeld and BakulPatki, 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 shortlist is drawn up from the nominations of the 80-plus ambassadors from around the world and limited to three institutions per category.
The judges, includeSarah Miller the former editor in chief of Condé Nast Traveller, review everything from exhibits, audacious programming and management structures, to cross-sector collaborations and Michelin-starred restaurants, late night openings and music performances, with an overarching focus on a visionary approach to these cultural initiatives.
Award winners were chosen by a jury of eleven established global cultural gurus, the schemeis now in its third year, celebrating museums and cities for their cultural vitality.
Award winners were chosen by a jury of eleven established global cultural gurus, the schemeis now in its third year, celebrating museums and cities for their cultural vitality and the outreach of their contributions to the international cultural sphere. India had two nominees in the Best New Museum of the Year Award (opened within the last 15 months): the Dharavi Museum in Mumbai and the Bihar Museum in Patna. The Dharavi Design Museum is the first museum of its kind, based in the homegrown neighbourhood of Dharavi, showcasing local talent through a nomadic exhibition space and employing design as a tool to promote social change and innovation on a global scale. The Bihar Museum with 24,000 square metres designed by Maki and Associates of Japan and OpolisArchitects of Mumbai, displays the statue of the magnificent DidarganjYakshi, 5’2” tall and made of Chunar sandstone polished to an incredible mirror-like patina.
The Design Museum Dharavi, Mumbai was chosen as the winner of the Asia category; the best Digital Museum of the Year went to Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; Best Museum Restaurant of the Year awarded to LouLou at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris; Québec was Cultural City of the Year and The Leading Culture Destination 2016 overall winner was The Broad Museum, Los Angeles.
The winners were announced by LCDA media partners the New York Times, the DailyMail and Newsweek.