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Gulbenkian Museum Prize 2007 - Here's What The People Say
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
22/05/2007
Image: a photograph of an atmospherically lit bowl
The winner of the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year 2007 will be announced at an evening ceremony on May 24 2007. But who do 24 Hour Museum readers think should win the prize?
The voting for the 2007 Readers' Poll for the Gulbenkian Prize is now closed
In the last few months since the 2007 Gulbenkian Prize Museum of the Year longlist was announced in February, 24 Hour Museum readers have flooded our people's poll virtual ballot box with 4,378 votes for the museum they wanted to see win the Gulbenkian Museum prize.
Voting for the 24 Hour Museum People's Poll is now closed and we now have the top five. It's pretty close to the official shortlist, with the exception of the Warner Textile Archive, which thanks to our reader's votes even beat one of the officially shortlisted museums. But which one? And which museum is the overall winner of our unofficial People's Vote?
All will be revealed by midday on May 23 - before the official 2007 Gulbenkian Museum of the Year is announced at a ceremony at London's RIBA later in the evening.
But for now we give you a selection of the comments that have arrived in the 24 Hour Museum inbox over the last few months - each of them revealing just how much our museums and galleries mean to the thousands upon thousands of people who visit them...
Just click on the highlighted museum names below to find out what people think about their local museum or gallery.
Image: shows an ornate interior
The Queen's Boudoir at Kew Palace. © Historic Royal Palaces / newsteam.co.uk
Kew Palace. "A lesson for everyone working in the field of how these things should be done.”
Image: shows an interior of a gallery with glass display units and suspended glass pains
The Warner Textile Archive is housed in the original mill where many of the textiles were created. © Braintree District Museum Trust
Warner Textile Archive. "Places like Braintree don’t win national competitions; now it deserves to do so."
Image: shows the interior of a museum with a fighter plane suspended on wires in the foreground
Spitfire LA198, hanging from the roof of Kelvingrove's west court. © Glasgow City Council (Museums)
Kelvingrove. "Kelvingrove is one of Scotland’s, if not the world’s, most beautiful visitor attractions and is all the better after the recent restoration!"
Image: shows a sparkling new interior of a museum
The entrance way and shop at Weston Park Museum. © Sheffield Museums Trust
Weston Park Museum. "As a child I would be dragged to museums around the country by my parents. Now my children drag us to the museum without fail every weekend."
Image: shows the exterior of a gallery with a water feature in the foreground
The Grade I Listed Pallant House Gallery now has a state of the art gallery extension. © Pallant House Gallery
Pallant House Art Gallery. “This is Chichester’s pride and joy ... in fact it is the joy of anyone who enjoys looking at and getting information about art ..."
Image: photo of a small boy pointing at a museum display
The new aquarium at the Horniman Museum has already proved a big hit with children. © Laura Mtungwazi
Horniman Museum. “Children spend ages gazing at Jelly-fish and counting frogs while adults can learn about all manner of things including the sex-life of a sea-horse!"
The Women's Library tackles prostitution in its latest exhibition. © Rachel Hayward/24 Hour Museum
The Women's Library. "Prostitution and issues surrounding it have been kept away from the public eye. This is a brave, thoughtful and thought-provoking exhibition. But more than that it is an important and essential one.”
Image: cutaway drawing of a skull showing the eye in its socket
Scotland & Medicine has brought the country's fantastic medical collections to a much wider audience. © Scotland & Medicine
Scotland and Medicine. “I don't normally go to museums, I think they are boring. But, my boyfriend dragged me along to the Anatomy Acts exhibition and I absolutely loved it."
Image: photo of the interior of a gallery with a large display case in the middle
Jameel Gallery with the impressive Ardabil carpet. © Richard Waite
Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. "I felt a sense of peace and tranquility surround me as I walked around. I found the overall experience in the Jameel Gallery to be an immensely rewarding and enjoyable one."
Warner Textile Archive, Braintree
Warners Mill, Silks Way, Braintree, CM7 3GB, Essex, England
T: 01376 557741
Open: Gallery: Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 4pm
Please note the Gallery will be closed to the general public during the winter from 1 October - reopening in April 2009. Access to the Gallery is still possible by prior appointment.
Archive - by appointment Tuesday - Friday (10am - 4pm)
Closed: Sunday - Tuesday
Gallery will be closed during the winter from 1 October until April 2009
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ, West Sussex, England
Open: Tues-Sat 10.00-17.00
Thurs 10.00-20.00
Sun & Bank Holiday Monday 12.30-17.00
Closed: All Day Mondays
25,26 December, 1 January
Kew Palace and Queen Charlotte's Cottage
Kew Palace and Queen Charlotte's Cottage, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AB, Surrey, England
Open: Kew Palace reopens this year on 24 March 2007 and will be open daily until 28 October (inclusive). Open hours are 10:00 - 18:00 Tuesday to Sundays (last admission 1700) and 11:00 - 18:00 on Mondays (last admission 1700).
Queen Charlotte's Cottage is open on selected dates during the summer months, please see www.hrp.org.uk for more information.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG, Strathclyde, Scotland
T: 0141 276 9599
Open: Monday to Thursday and Saturday 10am to 5pm, Friday and Sunday 11am to 5pm
Weston Park Museum, Sheffield
Weston Park Museum, Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust, Leader House, Surrey Street, Sheffield, S1 2LH, South Yorkshire, England
T: 0114 278 2655
Open: Mon- Sat 10am- 5pm
and Sun 11am-5pm
Horniman Museum & Gardens
Horniman Museum & Gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3PQ, England
Open: Open daily: 1030-1730
The Women's Library
The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, 25 Old Castle Street, London, E1 7NT, England
Open: Exhibition Opening hours
Mon-Wed & Fri 9.30-17.30
Thurs 9.30-20.00
Sat 10.00-16.00
Sun Closed
Reading Room Opening hours
Mon Closed
Tues, Wed & Fri 9.30-17.00
Thurs 9.30-20.00
Sat 10.00-16.00
Sun Closed
Closed: The Women's Library, as part of London Metropolitan University, closes for brief periods over the Easter and Christmas holidays. It has an annual Closed Week for stocktaking and essential Library work. This is usually the first week of September. It is closed on Saturdays during the month of August. Please check our website for details.
Surgeons' Hall Museums, Edinburgh
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 18 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW, Lothian, Scotland
Open: Monday - Friday, noon - 4pm
Summer opening hrs 2008: 1 Aug - 7 Sept, Monday - Friday 10am -4pm, Saturday & Sunday, noon - 4pm
Inverness Museum & Art Gallery
Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, Castle Wynd, Inverness, IV2 3EB, Scotland
Open: Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00
Closed: Sunday
Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL, England
Open: Daily 1000-1745
Fri 1000-2200
Closed: 24-26 December
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