:00:00. > :00:08.London, Edinburgh, Bristol and York all five for the price.
:00:09. > :00:18.Who goes to the museums of today? How do they stay relevant as sources
:00:19. > :00:21.of inspiration with so much human culture available online? And how do
:00:22. > :00:26.we make sure they remain accessible for all corners of society and not
:00:27. > :00:31.just the preserve of a narrow elite. These are some of the questions that
:00:32. > :00:36.the Art fund Museum of the Year panel have grappled with this summer
:00:37. > :00:40.as they scrutinise some of the UK's finest museums and galleries. Every
:00:41. > :00:44.year five are selected of incredibly different scale and type and put
:00:45. > :00:51.through their paces to see which is worthy of being the UK's Museum of
:00:52. > :00:56.the Year. The short list showcases the incredible breadth of museums in
:00:57. > :01:02.Britain today. Up and down the country our institutions are proving
:01:03. > :01:06.how dynamic this sector is. From vast Victorian temples for Art and
:01:07. > :01:11.design to sprawling Scottish woodlands where we find the most
:01:12. > :01:14.surprising sculpture Park. Tonight we profile each of the nominees and
:01:15. > :01:17.find out what they have done to stand out from the crowd. Welcome to
:01:18. > :01:30.my arts night. I'm Maria Balshaw, director of
:01:31. > :01:37.Manchester's Whitworth Gallery and winner of last year's Museum of the
:01:38. > :01:41.Year award. I remember my nerves were sky-high on the light of the
:01:42. > :01:45.announcement. I felt incredibly sick. I suddenly realised the Museum
:01:46. > :01:50.of the Year award was about the recognition of ten years worth of
:01:51. > :01:54.work and all the staff had done such a tremendous job to transform the
:01:55. > :02:00.Whitworth from a much loved but quite quiet and rather hidden away
:02:01. > :02:04.institution to a gallery that is absolutely part of its local
:02:05. > :02:09.community. And also is an international draw. Winning last
:02:10. > :02:13.year's award was testament to all the hard work from the team around
:02:14. > :02:19.me here and at the University of Manchester. We had been shot for 18
:02:20. > :02:24.months for a major expansion. When we opened at the beginning of last
:02:25. > :02:28.year there was a fivefold increase in visitor numbers as hundreds of
:02:29. > :02:34.thousands of people came to see the new building and rediscover our
:02:35. > :02:40.collection. Museums should be places acceptable to all, young and old
:02:41. > :02:43.alike. They should constantly inspire and challenge us, reminding
:02:44. > :02:49.us of the greatest achievements of ages gone by as well as the infinite
:02:50. > :02:53.possibilities of the future. At the twilight of the Victorian age, the
:02:54. > :02:57.Whitworth was set up to be for the perpetual gratification of the
:02:58. > :03:01.people of Manchester. I'm really proud to stand by that mission today
:03:02. > :03:08.and see its ambition recognised by this vital award.
:03:09. > :03:11.As we prepare to hand over the mantle of Museum of the Year to
:03:12. > :03:13.another institution, this year's shorlist has been announced.
:03:14. > :03:16.Ahead of the big launch, groups from each
:03:17. > :03:24.museum and some champion artists gathered together at the
:03:25. > :03:29.photographer Rankin's studio for a series of group portraits.
:03:30. > :03:32.Of course the V will win the Museum of the Year Award.
:03:33. > :03:34.It is the greatest museum in the world.
:03:35. > :03:48.I think we should win because we spent...
:03:49. > :04:00.It's been an amazing project to work on and the gallery
:04:01. > :04:03.Great. That's great.
:04:04. > :04:07.I've never been in a space like this before.
:04:08. > :04:15.Really quite disarming and relaxed and enjoyable.
:04:16. > :04:18.To be asked to be part of it is really exciting.
:04:19. > :04:20.To be able to take pictures of all the competing
:04:21. > :04:30.It is really interesting for me to find out about the museums I
:04:31. > :04:55.There is one entrant on this year's short list that subverts the idea of
:04:56. > :05:05.a traditional museum more than any other. Jupiter Artland, just outside
:05:06. > :05:10.Edinburgh, feels like a universe away from the other museums I'm
:05:11. > :05:15.visited this week. I've been here before, twice, and each time I have,
:05:16. > :05:18.I have got lost all over again and have to find the artworks and
:05:19. > :05:25.rediscover them in this strange and rather wonderful landscape. I have
:05:26. > :05:29.the map. I know that's Andy Goldsworthy's Stonehouse, and I'm
:05:30. > :05:36.pretty sure through the trees that there is an banished Kapoor. To be
:05:37. > :05:47.honest, I would be lying if I said I knew really where I'm standing right
:05:48. > :05:53.now. -- Black Lives Matter. Jupiter Artland was set up in 2008.
:05:54. > :05:57.Following a career as a sculptor, Nikki took it upon herself to
:05:58. > :06:02.transform the grounds around their home into a shrine to contemporary
:06:03. > :06:07.art. Each artwork at Jupiter is specially commissioned for the
:06:08. > :06:11.grounds here. Over the years, Robert and Nicky have worked with big names
:06:12. > :06:18.like Antony Gormley, and Cornelia Parker. Cornelia Parker use the
:06:19. > :06:25.inspiration of Gainsborough's very famous landscape painting Mr and Mrs
:06:26. > :06:28.Andrews, a typical English country landscape painting. In the forefront
:06:29. > :06:34.it features a couple sitting beside a tree.
:06:35. > :06:37.So, we have the gun depicting one of the founders
:06:38. > :06:40.and the tree depicting the other, both leaning on each other very
:06:41. > :06:46.It is delightful and amazing to discover it but there
:06:47. > :06:51.That is what visitors see when they come.
:06:52. > :06:53.They are shocked by seeing a gun in this very tranquil,
:06:54. > :06:57.Whether it be shocking or not, it is intriguing
:06:58. > :07:00.and exciting to see the scale imposed upon you.
:07:01. > :07:10.I think everyone reacts with excitement.
:07:11. > :07:21.More delights await deeper in the forest including The Light Pours Out
:07:22. > :07:29.Of Me. This is just gorgeous, isn't it? An incredible piece. At the
:07:30. > :07:38.moment it must be, I think, the only UK outdoor sculpture by her. It is.
:07:39. > :07:41.We are surrounded by two forms of stone, amethyst and obsidian
:07:42. > :07:49.volcanic glass, this severe and sharp edge that creates a boundary
:07:50. > :07:54.level to the two pieces. Soft and gentle down here, but then sharp
:07:55. > :07:59.harsh and severe glass at the top. It's a place of rest and peace when
:08:00. > :08:05.you make it into the folly. What do people do when they come in? I think
:08:06. > :08:09.people feel healed, they touch everything. Jupiter Artland is
:08:10. > :08:16.unique in that you can get involved with the sculpture and touch it.
:08:17. > :08:19.Amethyst has an historical function. Contemporarily it draws you in. You
:08:20. > :08:25.want to touch it and stands next to it, and you want to feel healed by
:08:26. > :08:31.the work. Jupiter has a life just beyond the works on-site here. One
:08:32. > :08:34.of the most interesting projects they have launched recently is a
:08:35. > :08:41.full-scale replication of the part in the video game Minecraft. As the
:08:42. > :08:45.founder told me, it has brought a whole new audience to the world of
:08:46. > :08:50.contemporary art. You let people see Jupiter before they get here. I've
:08:51. > :08:54.been looking at your Minecraft. The digital piece for us is really
:08:55. > :08:58.important. Our message is to try to get every child in Scotland to come
:08:59. > :09:02.to Jupiter and we are trying to do that now with a digital outreach
:09:03. > :09:08.programme. I think we are the first museum ever to be created virtually
:09:09. > :09:13.on Minecraft. If you go on Minecraft you can see lots of the pieces here
:09:14. > :09:18.and the kids adore it. They can go in wherever they are and explore and
:09:19. > :09:22.have the Jupiter experience on their computers in their own bedrooms.
:09:23. > :09:30.Were there any challenges, working outdoors and with this scale? Nature
:09:31. > :09:34.is part of the curating process. It changes. You know Scotland well, we
:09:35. > :09:38.can have four 's seasons in one day. One of the beauties of the impact of
:09:39. > :09:44.nature is that it changes the dynamics of the park. Everything
:09:45. > :09:50.about it, you can come back in spring or high summer and everything
:09:51. > :09:57.will look different. Jupiter is unlike any other museum on this
:09:58. > :10:03.year's list, but it's not the only one that challenges what we expect
:10:04. > :10:07.from a museum. I have arrived at Bethlem Museum of the Mind. I have
:10:08. > :10:11.never been here before because it is quite out of the way in Beckenham.
:10:12. > :10:15.But they have had an extraordinary transformation over the last 12
:10:16. > :10:19.months, moving to this beautiful new building and bringing collections
:10:20. > :10:27.together in a really new way. I'm really looking forward to exploring.
:10:28. > :10:30.The museum forms part of the Bethlem Memorial Hospital, an institution
:10:31. > :10:39.that's been around for almost 800 years. Known as bedlam, it gained
:10:40. > :10:48.infamy throughout the Middle Ages. But in 2016, the Mission provides
:10:49. > :10:53.sound mental health care. I'm here to meet an artist whose work is on
:10:54. > :11:01.show in the museum. Following a life changing cycling accident at the age
:11:02. > :11:04.of 18, Xavier became a patient at Bethlem's sister hospital. I asked
:11:05. > :11:12.him to show me around the gallery. You came to the hospital because of
:11:13. > :11:17.a head injury? I had a head injury, yes, ten days in a coma. I didn't
:11:18. > :11:28.know if I would live or die, or how I would be.
:11:29. > :11:38.Is it a utopian city? Yeah, for me it's a utopian city, but it was
:11:39. > :11:40.originally set out as a mind map for me to deepen my studies with various
:11:41. > :11:51.different frameworks. So there is a very different kind of
:11:52. > :12:01.word in here. An artist called Elyse Pack it? Yes, more dystopian, a
:12:02. > :12:07.personal dystopia. This is a personalised table for her, with her
:12:08. > :12:10.fear of food and eating. Everything seems impossible, you couldn't eat
:12:11. > :12:19.from these bowls. The table might fall away. For a family, the dining
:12:20. > :12:22.table is where you all meet. If that's impossible for her, you miss
:12:23. > :12:32.out on a lot of interaction with your family. Incredibly powerful.
:12:33. > :12:38.It's not just artistic works that are on show at Bethlem. Many of the
:12:39. > :12:42.display cases have not to the institution's notorious history. But
:12:43. > :12:48.given the sensitivities around the collection, they are displayed in a
:12:49. > :12:53.curiouser way will stop we are in a section of the museum called Freedom
:12:54. > :12:57.And Constraints. You do not shy away from some of the more difficult
:12:58. > :13:00.parts of the treatment of mental illness down the centuries, but you
:13:01. > :13:08.have made some quite careful curating choices. When we were
:13:09. > :13:12.developing the displays, we had shackles and leg irons and all the
:13:13. > :13:16.rest of it. They were in our collections. Thinking carefully
:13:17. > :13:21.about how we wanted to display those, we had decisions to make. We
:13:22. > :13:24.could have decided just to keep them in the store so nobody could see
:13:25. > :13:30.them and be disturbed or frightened or whatever. But we felt we had a
:13:31. > :13:35.duty to show them. Equally we did not want to display them in a Gothic
:13:36. > :13:39.way, that would have been voyeuristic, lowest common did
:13:40. > :13:44.nominate, bringing the crowds in to see the awful things. The things we
:13:45. > :13:50.used to do. Yes, they are challenging objects, and we didn't
:13:51. > :13:58.know quite how to display, but we feel, rightly or wrong way, we have
:13:59. > :14:04.displayed them in a way that people can opt in to see them or opt out if
:14:05. > :14:09.it's too much for them. Up until last year, the Museum of the mind
:14:10. > :14:13.was little more than a broom closet next to the hospital. As it has
:14:14. > :14:14.reached national status it has grappled with questions on how to
:14:15. > :14:27.display the work in its collection. Caroline, you have undergone the
:14:28. > :14:30.most extraordinary transformation. What has happened? It has been a
:14:31. > :14:35.transformative experience. The museum has been on the site since
:14:36. > :14:40.1970 that very different to this. This is a much more fitting home for
:14:41. > :14:46.the collections, both the art collection and the archives. We have
:14:47. > :14:50.a collection at the Whitworth which shares a similar artists. It used to
:14:51. > :14:55.be called an outsider art collection. For us it is part of the
:14:56. > :15:01.mainstream collection. Tell me about your feelings abound that sort of
:15:02. > :15:08.terminology. Outsider art is not really a term we would use to
:15:09. > :15:14.describe our collection. Some people do find it helpful. It is a bit like
:15:15. > :15:18.the nature of a diagnosis perhaps that some people find receiving
:15:19. > :15:22.psychiatric diagnosis helpful because it provides them with an
:15:23. > :15:28.explanation that it perhaps provides access to services. Others feel it
:15:29. > :15:36.is a label and unhelpful one. I think it can work both ways. This
:15:37. > :15:47.year's Museum of the year award is a real David and Goliath story. Pitted
:15:48. > :15:53.against a minnow like Bethlehem -- Bethlem is the Victoria and Albert
:15:54. > :16:00.Museum. It dwarfs statistics in terms of visitor numbers. What keeps
:16:01. > :16:05.people coming back year after year? What we have here are two
:16:06. > :16:10.extraordinary Indian scars. This one at the front is from Kashmir. It is
:16:11. > :16:16.hand-woven, and passion Meena. An elaborate design with the paler bit
:16:17. > :16:22.at the top. This one is made 5000 miles away from Kashmir, in Paisley,
:16:23. > :16:26.in Scotland. These scarves were beautiful and highly prized but they
:16:27. > :16:32.were really expensive because they were handmade in India. The Paisley
:16:33. > :16:36.textile industry, with its jacquard looms in the mid-19th century,
:16:37. > :16:41.starts to copy them. A patina comes from India comes to take the name of
:16:42. > :16:47.a small Scottish town outside of Glasgow. What we know as Paisley is
:16:48. > :16:51.born. We have machine-made and handmade, both held together. It
:16:52. > :16:56.demonstrates something at the heart of the fee and eight, which is that
:16:57. > :17:06.Britain and British culture, and the objects that help define it, come
:17:07. > :17:10.from all over the world. -- V Founded with the help of Prince
:17:11. > :17:14.Albert, it has kept art and design at its core ever since. It has
:17:15. > :17:19.always held a vibrant collection that specialises in the rest of the
:17:20. > :17:25.globe comment showing treasures from all over the world. It has a modern
:17:26. > :17:38.European gallery. I heard from museum director Martin Roth about
:17:39. > :17:46.this huge undertaking. It has a fresh take. It is about how power
:17:47. > :17:50.and taste came together. It is a great learning experience being
:17:51. > :17:56.here. If you see these objects, they are incredible, unique, beautiful.
:17:57. > :17:59.The past few years have also seen the museum embrace
:18:00. > :18:03.These blockbuster shows, featuring the work of icons
:18:04. > :18:06.like David Bowie and Alexander McQueen have sent visitor numbers
:18:07. > :18:12.With 2015's McQueen Show forced to open through the night
:18:13. > :18:21.I would love to say it was all planned, we knew it before.
:18:22. > :18:28.To be honest, even though it is strange to say it in public,
:18:29. > :18:33.we were quite often surprised, at least with David Bowie.
:18:34. > :18:34.Alexander McQueen was slightly different.
:18:35. > :18:37.For both of those exhibitions, people travel from all over
:18:38. > :18:43.It is a great feeling of joy but at the same time
:18:44. > :18:51.I think it is great, great progress for visitor
:18:52. > :19:05.There was a certain sense of David and Goliath when one looks at this
:19:06. > :19:16.year's Museum of the year list. Do think that makes life harder for you
:19:17. > :19:20.on the short list? -- do you think? I have worked in small resilience
:19:21. > :19:25.and huge institutions. We are extremely honoured that we art on
:19:26. > :19:33.the short list. I think we are really proud and you talk to the
:19:34. > :19:41.team. Everybody is smiling. No, it is the same conditions for everyone.
:19:42. > :19:45.One of the real eye-opener is at the ranking photo shoot was just how
:19:46. > :19:49.much the staff at each museum and boarded the values of their
:19:50. > :19:52.institution. You see is not just bricks and mortar buildings, they
:19:53. > :19:59.are made up of people. Nowhere was this more obvious than with the
:20:00. > :20:03.call, young representatives of brittle's Arnolfini Gallery, who
:20:04. > :20:13.personify the alternative lifestyle on offer in Bristol. It was opened
:20:14. > :20:19.by a trio of under 25 's, keen to shake up the Bristol art scene. This
:20:20. > :20:24.year marks its 40th on the harbour front. The Arnolfini has exhibited
:20:25. > :20:30.some of brittle's biggest artists in the last 50 years. Unlike the other
:20:31. > :20:36.museums on this year's list, it has no permanent collection. Much of the
:20:37. > :20:42.work in the new theme is carried out by a team of volunteers. Part of the
:20:43. > :20:45.Arnolfini commitment to young people as the recent collaboration with the
:20:46. > :20:50.University of the West of England, whose degree show they currently
:20:51. > :20:55.have on display. The works here showcased the best of the future of
:20:56. > :21:01.creativity in this country. I heard more about this work when I met up
:21:02. > :21:06.with Arnolfini director, Kate Brindley. What do you think the
:21:07. > :21:09.judges were responding to when they short listed the Arnolfini? They
:21:10. > :21:16.said they really liked the fact they are working at the heart with young
:21:17. > :21:20.people, from the tiniest children that come here for story telling,
:21:21. > :21:27.right through to the students we now have, located on our top floors. The
:21:28. > :21:31.next creative leaders and artists of the future. You really feel the
:21:32. > :21:37.institution works as a talent incubator. I think so. It always has
:21:38. > :21:42.done. It has all been an important part of Arnolfini's journey and
:21:43. > :21:47.history. It is championing young artists and working with people to
:21:48. > :21:50.give them good opportunities to experience new ground-breaking
:21:51. > :21:57.experimental work but also working with them in terms of opportunity.
:21:58. > :22:01.Earlier in the day I walked around the Arnolfini art from elsewhere
:22:02. > :22:08.exhibition, made up of works from exclusively outside the West. Are
:22:09. > :22:12.there challenges in getting people engaged with artwork from parts of
:22:13. > :22:17.the world they do not perhaps Nowell? I think our audiences do
:22:18. > :22:22.expect us to be showing some challenging work. -- know well. That
:22:23. > :22:29.is something they associate with Arnolfini. The topics in art from
:22:30. > :22:33.elsewhere really do they'll -- deal with contemporary issues, we have
:22:34. > :22:38.tried to explore through those routes. It is less about knowing an
:22:39. > :22:43.artist name but more about the subjects they explore. That is
:22:44. > :22:53.important to us. We did an exhibition with vertigo C, a major
:22:54. > :22:56.film work which explored issues around migration, the environment,
:22:57. > :23:01.and links to the Bristol slave trade. From speaking to our audience
:23:02. > :23:06.were they responded so well to that. They want to explore the deep issues
:23:07. > :23:10.in contemporary art. This gives you the opportunity to do that. In an
:23:11. > :23:16.environment that is stimulating and not too heavy in terms of people
:23:17. > :23:20.dipping in and out, they can explore ideas. I know people spend a lot of
:23:21. > :23:25.time with the work. I think that is where we have been really looking at
:23:26. > :23:32.how we can connect deeply to people with issues they are interested in.
:23:33. > :23:38.So, now we have met most of the nominees on this year's list. How is
:23:39. > :23:42.the winner of the prize selected? Every summer, five specially
:23:43. > :23:47.selected judges go on a Tour of Britain, the selecting each of the
:23:48. > :23:53.nominees. Today it is York Art Gallery's turn. The judges are a
:23:54. > :23:58.cross-section of the art world. There are journalists and museum
:23:59. > :24:01.experts. Part of the visitors are to receive presentations from York
:24:02. > :24:07.stuff about why they deserve the accolade. This year, York Art
:24:08. > :24:10.Gallery opened after an ?8 million refurbishment project. Much of the
:24:11. > :24:18.figures of the redevelopment was in the centre of ceramic art. This
:24:19. > :24:23.piece, Manifest 10,000 hours is the centrepiece of the display. Can you
:24:24. > :24:27.tell me a bit about how this piece came into being? I knew of this
:24:28. > :24:34.incredible ceramics collection which is full of my heroes from cradle is
:24:35. > :24:40.-- play. The weight is curated, it shows generations who have passed on
:24:41. > :24:46.knowledge. Manifest 10,000 hours is a way of looking at that skill, that
:24:47. > :24:51.handing on of the pursuit of making. Here we have 10,000 bowls, not made
:24:52. > :24:57.by me alone but made by sharing skill with different immunities
:24:58. > :25:04.across the UK. Do people volunteer? They volunteered. In London, in
:25:05. > :25:08.York, we sent out forms for people who would like to help to make this
:25:09. > :25:20.artwork. What an extraordinary privilege which full -- privilege.
:25:21. > :25:26.We have 10,000 hours start-up. This is what it takes to become a master.
:25:27. > :25:28.One of the unique things about York is its collaborative relationship
:25:29. > :25:36.with artists like Claire. In a neighbouring room, I met Mark
:25:37. > :25:42.Herold, who is curated exhibition, the lumber room, is selected from
:25:43. > :25:46.York's elections. You have a marvellous election of different
:25:47. > :25:51.orders of objects like rocking horses, ceramic plates. I love that
:25:52. > :25:56.mixing up. They are not rocking horses, they are from an 1840s
:25:57. > :26:07.disbanded carousel. They ask Ultra all forms and have the patina of
:26:08. > :26:11.age. -- have cultural forms. I have juxtapose that with family portraits
:26:12. > :26:17.from the late 17th century and they have never been on display. They are
:26:18. > :26:20.restored and brought out. It is putting surprising things together
:26:21. > :26:25.that have a visual collection. Things that would be in a different
:26:26. > :26:29.kind of museum, maybe in a natural History Museum. If you know anything
:26:30. > :26:34.about my work, I love birds and animals. We have a good natural
:26:35. > :26:40.history collection here. We have a lot of specimens were stored. I'd
:26:41. > :26:44.put them together, almost as a sculptural Mass. York Art Gallery
:26:45. > :26:49.has put on a great show to this year's judges today. After they left
:26:50. > :26:53.I spoke to the chief Executive, Rhiannon King, about some of the
:26:54. > :27:02.tougher questions they had posed to her. All of us in museums have been
:27:03. > :27:05.facing really difficult times over the last five years. I know you have
:27:06. > :27:10.made a decision to charge here. How did you come to that decision? We
:27:11. > :27:13.did not want to make that decision. That is the most important thing to
:27:14. > :27:19.say. I think there is a conversation that needs to be had nationally
:27:20. > :27:25.about the value of civic museums. We cannot make that argument on our
:27:26. > :27:30.own. In terms of our particular situation, we went from a budget
:27:31. > :27:38.which included from the city council of 1.5 million. That went down to
:27:39. > :27:45.1.2 and the next year to 600,000. That is losing more than half of our
:27:46. > :27:49.income in two years. When we looked at the books, although actually the
:27:50. > :27:54.city council funding is now not the major source of income, the only way
:27:55. > :28:00.we could bridge that gap was to introduce charging for York
:28:01. > :28:04.residents and the Art gallery. Now that we have met each of the
:28:05. > :28:10.museums, all that remains is to see who has won this year's 's. --
:28:11. > :28:22.prize. Good evening. I am absolutely
:28:23. > :28:27.delighted to be here with you tonight for the Museum of the year
:28:28. > :28:35.award in this spectacular building. It is the envelope. And the winner
:28:36. > :28:39.is... Wrong side. The Victoria and Albert Museum.
:28:40. > :28:57.So, that is it on this glorious sunny day. Huge congratulations to
:28:58. > :29:05.the end a full winning Museum of the year. We will see a collection of
:29:06. > :29:10.the wonderful objects they have. -- V Enjoy.