LONDON.- The shortlist of five museums competing for the award of the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2016 was announced today.

They are (in alphabetical order):

• Arnolfini, Bristol, South West
• Bethlem Museum of the Mind, London
• Jupiter Artland, West Lothian
• Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London
• York Art Gallery, Yorkshire

The Art Fund awards the Museum of the Year prize annually to one outstanding museum, which, in the opinion of the judges, has shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement. The prize of £100,000 is given at an awards dinner, before an invited audience of the UK’s museum and cultural leaders, which this year will take place at the Natural History Museum in London on Wednesday 6 July 2016.

The judges for Museum of the Year 2016 are: Gus Casely-Hayford, curator and art historian; Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor; Ludmilla Jordanova, Professor of History and Visual Culture, Durham University; Cornelia Parker, artist; Stephen Deuchar (chair of the judging panel), Director, Art Fund.

Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund, said today: ‘Each one of these five museums is outstanding - not just for the collections they display, but for the people who work there, and the visitors whose lives they can change. Whether reaching audiences of thousands or millions, the best museums turn objects into culture, put audiences at the heart of their work, and engage with issues of the moment. This shortlist shows why and how UK museums lead the world.’