Press Releases

Date: 15 May 2003

Museum that promotes citizenship to young offenders scoops £100,000 award

The National Centre for Citizenship and the Law housed in the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham was tonight named as the winner of the first Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries, the UK's richest arts prize.

The Centre, based in a Victorian courthouse and 18th century prison, wins the Prize for vigorously seizing a major new opportunity to use the museum's unique resources to enhance and enliven young people's understanding of citizenship. The Gulbenkian judges described the experience of visiting the museum as "both chilling and inspirational" and applauded the Centre for using an historic resource with such ingenuity and originality, setting a standard to which other museums should aspire.

The Centre works with schools, colleges and the public to promote active citizenship in ways that are of real practical value to National Curriculum studies. The project also demonstrates the power of the arts in engaging participants in understanding, at first hand, the profound problems that relate to crime and punishment. A key part of its programme is the series of crime reduction programmes for young offenders and young people at risk of offending.

The other museums on the Gulbenkian shortlist were the Natural History Museum's Darwin Centre Phase One, Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham's Collections, Communities and Memories and the RRS Discovery Renewal Programme in Dundee.

The Centre receives a cheque for £100,000 and an enamelled silver bowl designed by award-winning metalwork artist, Vladimir Böhm.

The Centre intends to use The Gulbenkian Prize money to re-design and reinterpret part of the museum buildings, using space in the 1833 prison. This area is at present largely empty and closed to the public due to lack of funds; the museum will create a new dedicated Learning Zone aimed at primary-aged children.

Bamber Gascoigne, chair of the 2003 judges, made the announcement at an awards ceremony at Zandra Rhodes’ new Fashion and Textile Museum in London. He commented:

“We were all immensely impressed by the dedication and inventiveness with which the whole staff of NCCL had tackled a very challenging problem – that of using their museum’s rich resources to bring alive the potentially very dry subject of citizenship, whether in real-life cases re-enacted in authentic court rooms or through using the forbidding old prison to put crime and punishment in a historical perspective. Teachers will be grateful to them, and their experiment is one which others elsewhere will be able to follow and develop.

“We were unanimous in our decision, in spite of the exceptionally high standard of the short list – any one of which could have been a worthy winner.”

The ceremony was recorded by the BBC for the second of two programmes about the prize, which will be broadcast by BBC Four tomorrow (Friday 16 May) at 7.30pm.

The Gulbenkian Prize is designed to reward each year’s most innovative and inspiring idea in its sector - be it an exhibition, new gallery, public programme or important new initiative – developed in a UK museum or gallery. Still in its first year, the Gulbenkian Prize is set to become one of the most prestigious awards for the arts. It is worth more than the Man Booker, Turner and Stirling prizes put together and is awarded during Museums and Galleries Month.

The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries is funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - the grant-giving foundation with a reputation over 50 years for pioneering innovative projects in the arts, social welfare and education. The prize money has been guaranteed for a five-year period.

The Gulbenkian Prize is also supported by DCMS, Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Mrs Boneca Vasconcellos and Christopher Ondaatje CBE, who is passionately interested in raising awareness of the range and quality of museums and galleries in Britain.

www.thegulbenkianprize.org.uk
www.nccl.org.uk

Notes to editors:

• Please contact Colman Getty PR with interview requests (020 7631 2666).
• For more details of the winning and shortlisted museums, please contact Colman Getty PR (020 7631 2666).
• The Gulbenkian Prize 2003 judges are: Bamber Gascoigne, author and broadcaster, Peter Jenkinson, National Director of Creative Partnerships; Joanna Lumley, actress and writer; Professor Kathy Sykes, holder of the Collier Chair in the Public Understanding of Science and Technology at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Bristol; Dr Simon Thurley, Director of English Heritage; and Eleanor Updale, historian and children's novelist.
• The Best New Museum in Britain will be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday 16 May at 7.30pm.
• The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries is administered by The Museum Prize, a charitable company created in 2001 by representatives of National Heritage, the Museums Association, the National Art Collections Fund and the Campaign for Museums. These organisations have agreed to put aside award schemes they formerly ran (including the Museum of the Year) and lend their support to this new prize.
• The Museum Prize is chaired by Lady Cobham. Trustees of The Museum Prize include representatives of all four founding organisations.
• The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries is funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The UK Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is responsible for grant aid in the UK and Republic of Ireland and runs funding programmes in arts, social welfare, education and Anglo-Portuguese cultural relations. Its publications in these areas are well regarded.
• The Foundation's founder, Calouste Gulbenkian, was one of the most distinguished private collectors in the world. The Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon is well-known and loaned several major pieces of Lalique jewellery to the V & A’s highly acclaimed Art Nouveau exhibition in 2000 and simultaneously mounted a major exhibition of its treasures at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
• The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is supporting The Gulbenkian Prize by guaranteeing prize money of £100,000 a year for the next five years; it is also providing some of the funding for administration.
• The Gulbenkian Prize is also supported by DCMS, Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Mrs Boneca Vasconcellos and Christopher Ondaatje CBE, who is passionately interested in raising awareness of the range and quality of museums and galleries in Britain.

For more information, please contact:
Liz Sich, Ruth Cairns or Julia Muir
Colman Getty PR
Tel: 020 7631 2666 Fax: 020 7631 2699
Email: ruth@colmangettypr.co.uk
Out-of-hours: 07956 612380

Judges' Comments

Peter Jenkinson, National Director, Creative Partnerships
"I spent three hours at the NCCL and was overwhelmed by its energy and brilliance. They are doing something very different and very interesting. The loss of identity suffered in prison is felt all too keenly."

Joanna Lumley, actress and writer
“Our house was struck by lightning the other night and that's exactly how I felt about the NCCL experience. It’s astonishing and thrilling and frighteningly good.”

Professor Kathy Sykes, holder of the Collier Chair, University of Bristol
“This is really changing people's – children in particular – lives. It's using history to make them think about themselves and it's using privileged space for some of the least privileged people.”

Dr Simon Thurley, Director of English Heritage
“Nottingham's use of its 18th and 19th century courthouse and prison heritage is simply brilliant and provides a solution to the ever-increasing number of redundant Victorian courthouses around the country.”

Eleanor Updale, author and historian
“I was bowled over by the superb use of the gaol, the courthouse and the police station. NCCL makes real use of history and a difference to people's lives.”

Comments from visitors to the NCCL

Teresa Cullen, Young Potential, Nottinghamshire
“The National Centre for Citizenship and the Law at the Galleries of Justice is a superb example of a forward-thinking organisation using a facility that is steeped in history and part of our national heritage to facilitate innovative education programmes for contemporary young people to develop social skills and active citizenship.”

Anne Allen, Parent Governor, College House Junior School
“The value to children of these type of visits is immeasurable, as they develop not only further understanding of the subject matter, but also experience important lessons in behaviour and community responsibility.”

Steve Brookes, Crime Reduction Director, Government Office for the East Midlands
“The NCCL has developed a track record in this area which is impressive, and indeed, a sought-after model for reducing crime among young people.”

P.C. Darren White, Community Beat Officer
“The kids had such a good time at the NCCL… and the story of Burglar Bill ties it all together in a great package. At the end of the day some of the kids didn't want to go home, so they obviously had a good day.”

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