National Gallery Singapore Wins 2018 Children in Museums Award

On 17 November, the Keppel Centre for Art Education at National Gallery Singapore, an ASEMUS member, was announced as the winner of the 2018 Children in Museums Award, an initiative of the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums. The judges were unanimous in their decision to make the Keppel Centre for Art Education, National Gallery Singapore the winner of the 2018 Children in Museums Award, highlighting that:

With its free admission and mantra "Children first, parents second" the Keppel Centre is an excellent example of a dynamic 21st century education centre within an art gallery, introducing children to art at an early age while acknowledging the importance of lifelong learning. The exhibitions are constantly inspired by the permanent collections of the museum and encourage families to visit the National Gallery as well as the Keppel Centre. The involvement of local artists who are inspired by the museum collections, in collaboration with the dedicated education team, has led to the production of excellent, well-designed exhibitions for younger visitors.

The winner receives a cash prize of 5,000 Euros and holds for one year a bronze statue of Miffy, the world-famous children’s character, created by Dick Bruna. The sculptor is Marc Bruna, Dick Bruna’s son. Meanwhile, the Museum of Puppetry, Ljubljana, Slovenia received a Special Commendation for its strong commitment to make a collection of national relevance accessible to young visitors by encompassing both a multi-layered presentation, which shows the collection's richness and the urgency of preservation as well as its great potential for learning and new ideas, targeted at different age-spans. The award ceremony was held in the context of the 26th Annual Conference of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), in Valletta, Malta.

Background of the Award

The Children's Museum Award was established in 2011 by the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums to enhance the recognition of excellence in the specific sector of international children’s museums. In 2014 the name of the Award was changed to the Children in Museums Award, to reflect the wider range of provision for children in today’s museums. Applications are welcomed from children’s museums and from education, children departments in museums and science centres, both long-established and recently opened. The application for the 2019 Children in Museums Award is open until 15 February 2019.