The Burrell Collection named as 2023 museum of the year

The Burrell Collection has received the accolade of being named as the 2023 museum of the year after topping a shortlist of five museums.

They beat the likes of Leighton House (London), The MAC (Belfast), Natural History Museum (London) and Scapa Flow Museum (Orkney Islands) to the shortlist and be awarded with the £120,000 award which is the largest museum prize in the world.

Housed in Pollok Country Park, the museum has a collection of 9,000 objects which were owned by Sir William and Constance, Lady Burrell. It welcomed over 500,000 visitors in the year after its reopening and contributed an economic impact of £20m for Glasgow in its first six months - which has been a major boost to the city.

The award was presented to the head of museums and collections for Glasgow Life, Duncan Dornan, by the artist Sir Grayson Perry at a ceremony held in London at the British Museum.

Director of the Art Fund, Jenny Waldman said: “The Burrell Collection is extraordinary, a world-class collection displayed in an inspirational building, in harmony with the surrounding landscape of Pollok country park.

“Reopened in 2022, the sensitive renovation and collection redisplay invite exploration and delight, with innovative digital displays offering new ways of understanding the art and objects in the museum’s light, welcoming spaces. All this was achieved with a strong shared purpose and with the involvement of local community groups in Glasgow … This museum is truly for everyone to enjoy.”

After first reopening in March 2022 after a six-year refurbishment that cost £68 million, the museum was officially opened by King Charles in October last year with it containing some of the UK’s most significant holdings of Chinese art, some of the world’s finest medieval stained glass and tapestries, and paintings by artists including Rembrandt and Degas