Four much-loved Manchester institutions have been shortlisted across five categories from a record number of entries from all over the world highlighting incredible exhibitions, initiatives and teams in the Museums + Heritage Awards, and they can all be visited free of charge.
The global awards celebrate the very best in the world of museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions and the ceremony to reveal the winners will take place on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 in London.
Manchester’s shortlisted institutions at the Museums + Heritage Awards
Science and Industry Museum
The Science and Industry Museum’s newly re-opened Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery has been shortlisted for both Permanent Exhibition of the Year and Sustainable Project of the Year (sponsored by the National Lottery Heritage Fund).
Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery is a free, working gallery which re-opened in October 2025 following major repair and improvements to one of the most important surviving buildings of the industrial revolution. Visitors can immerse themselves in the sights, smells and sounds of the engine-driven ideas and industry that changed the world and see historic engines now powered by innovative sustainable technology at the heart of the experience.
Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery’s Collections Care and Management Team have been shortlisted for Team of the Year. The nomination recognises their remarkable commitment and the way they come together, year after year, to deliver exceptional work.
This includes the successful decant of 6,600 artworks, from paintings and works on paper to ceramics, glass and sculpture, from the Conservation Studio and Stores to Manchester Art Gallery as part of the Capital Programme project Taking Stock. It was a major and complex undertaking, which enabled essential building works and opened new opportunities for research, planning and public access, supporting work that places communities, volunteers, schools, experts, freelancers and visitors at its centre.
The team also shared their behind-the-scenes expertise with visitors through specialist public tours. Alongside this, they delivered precise and expert installation work for the exhibitions Things of the Least, Splendours of the Sikh Raj, and the upcoming WORN and Won’t Sit Still.
Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum’s memorable world premiere of The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years has been shortlisted for Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year. Developed in collaboration with creative robotics studio Air Giants, The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years represented a bold new step in the Museum’s approach to temporary exhibitions and really captured the imaginations of visitors throughout last summer.
The free, family exhibition invited visitors into a world inhabited by a giant, inflatable, robotic cat. Visitors were invited to cuddle and stroke the 10-metre-long feline as it napped peacefully, and the cat responded to their presence by twitching its ear, moving its tail and purring gently. Combining cutting-edge technology with hand-crafted artistry, it resulted in a major spike in visitor numbers and has since charmed new audiences on tour in Bristol and Wakefield.
National Football Museum
The National Football Museum has been shortlisted for the Visitor Welcome Award (sponsored by ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) for its Visitor First – A world class welcome for every visitor, every day scheme.
Visitor First was a year-long development programme that set a new benchmark for the National Football Museum’s visitor welcome. With 40% of visitors arriving through personal recommendation, and Manchester gearing up to host UEFA EURO 2028, delivering an exceptional welcome is vital to the museum’s long-term sustainability and transformation plans.
This year’s shortlist has been chosen by an independent panel of nine judges, who are all well-known in the museum world.
Full Museums + Heritage Awards shortlist
Visitor Accessibility Award
- The Royal Air Force Museum
- Historic Royal Palaces Access Guides and Access Videos
- Castle Howard Access and inclusion at Castle Howard: welcoming everyone
- Victoria and Albert Museum Design and Disability
- The Cartoon Museum Accessible Welcome
Museums + Heritage Business of the Year
- Harwell Restoration
- Losonnante
- Smartify
- TownsWeb Archiving
- Victoria Eggs
- Vox Group
Sector Impact Award
- National Museums Liverpool Recruitment Outreach Programme
- UAL Decolonising Arts Institute 20/20
- The C Word: The Conservators’ Podcast
- Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance Working Together: Embedding health and wellbeing leadership in museums and heritage organisations
- Birmingham Museums Trust Birmingham Museums Trust’s Citizens Jury
Visitor Welcome Award
- Dorset Museum & Art Gallery Dorset Museum & Art Gallery Visitor Services Team
- Japan House London Omotenashi in practice: delivering welcome through attentiveness and care
- Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum & Tour
- National Football Museum Visitor First – A world class welcome for every visitor, every day
- Red Lodge (Bristol Museums) Spooky Week: A Walk Through Time
Sustainable Project of the Year
- Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace – Harmonising Heritage and Sustainability
- Wardlaw Museum, University of St Andrews Rewrite the Future
- Gloucestershire Archives Green Pledge Project
- Science and Industry Museum Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery at the Science and Industry Museum
- Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Wild Uplands at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
- Natural History Museum Fixing Our Broken Planet
Best Use of Digital – International
- Qatar Museums AI Tour
- State Library Victoria Mouthful of Dust
- Industrimuseet Horsens The Director’s Dilemma
- Catalan Heritage Agency – Government of Catalonia Els ulls de la història: An immersive digital journey into Catalan heritage
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates Encounters, The National WWI Museum and Memorial
- St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation The Caravaggio Wing at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Malta
Best Use of Digital – UK
- Cadw and Jam Creative Studios Ltd Dynamic, Immersive Storytelling: Wealth, power and dangerous liaisons at Caerphilly Castle.
- UCL Grant Museum of Zoology World of Wasps
- The National Gallery Imaginarium
- Sainsbury Centre Day Release
- National Science and Media Museum Bradford Digital Creatives
Team of the Year
- Manchester City Galleries Collections Care and Management Team
- Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester Marketing Team
- Wellcome Collection Visitor Experience & Engagement – Delivering Inclusive and Accessible Experiences
- Jane Austen’s House Jane Austen’s House Staff
- Culture Leicestershire, Leicestershire County Council Villiers Revealed: We Have Always Been Here
Community Engagement Programme of the Year
- The Roman Baths Sanctuary at The Roman Baths
- Gunnersbury Park Museum Peoples Unite! How Southall changed the country
- Touchstones Rochdale Side-by-Side
- Horniman Museum and Gardens All Eyes on Her!: Community Stewardship for Institutional Change
- Maison Dieu (Dover Town Hall) Reawakening the Maison Dieu Community Engagement
- The Bowes Museum Unheard Voices, bringing The Bowes Museum to HMP Deerbolt
International Exhibition of the Year
- ATELIER BRÜCKNER Grand Egyptian Museum – Tutankhamun Gallery
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates Lost Shtetl Museum
- Tūhura Otago Museum Mums Build a Summer Exhibition to Inspire the Next Generation
- Universalmuseum Joanneum, Schloss Eggenberg Ambition & Illusion. Schloss Eggenberg: the Staging of a World
- Suzhou Museum × Gold Mantis Culture Development Co Ltd “I Am Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria” — British Museum Collections at Suzhou Museum
Learning Programme of the Year
- Turner Contemporary An Apple a Day
- Beamish, The Living Museum of the North Innovative work placement project for SEND and alternative provision school students
- Historic England Heritage Schools
- Powderham Access All Learning: Education on an Event Site
- London Museum Young Londoners’ Archive Schools Programme
- The National Civil War Centre and Newark Museum The National Civil War Centre’s The World Turned Upside Down Learning Programme
Partnership of the Year
- Derby Museums in partnership with Vaillant UK Inspiring future makers and engineers in Derby
- Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, Bernat Klein Foundation & National Trust for Scotland Bernat Klein Studio Coalition
- Exhibition Road Cultural Group South Ken ZEN+ Programme
- North Yorkshire Council Out of the Box Learning
- English Heritage Taskmaster and English Heritage Team Up
Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year
- Durham University Conserving the Durham Shakespeare First Folio
- Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust CIC No7 Bottle Shop
- Norfolk Museums Service Norwich Castle: A Royal Palace Reborn
- Dover District Council, The Landmark Trust; Haverstock, Ingham Pinnock Associates & Pitsilli Graham Reawakening the Maison Dieu
- Buttress Architects & Preston City Council Harris Your Place: The Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library
Shop of the Year
- University of Oxford Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum Shop
- Museum of the Home Museum Shop
- Derby Museums Museum of Making’s sustainable retail season
- Chatsworth House The Orangery Shop
- National Theatre National Theatre Bookshop
Volunteers of the Year
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Punjab Registers Comparison Project
- Wolverhampton Arts and Culture Wolverhampton Art Gallery Volunteer Visitor Ambassadors
- East Grinstead Museum World War II remembered
- Ullapool Museum Trust Ullapool Museum Young Curators
- The Hovercraft Museum CIO Rising Above: 45 Volunteers Delivering a Nationally Significant Museum
Permanent Exhibition of the Year
- Natural History Museum Fixing Our Broken Planet
- ZMMA Poole Museum
- Shoemakers Museum Place, people and purpose
- Avoncroft Museum of Buildings Revealing the Hidden Stories of the Showmen Community
- Science and Industry Museum Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget more than £80k
- The National Gallery Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers
- The National Archives MI5: Official Secrets
- Manchester Museum and Air Giants The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years
- Wellcome Collection 1880 THAT: Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget less than £80k
- Food Museum School Dinners
- Thackray Museum of Medicine Poo!
- Museum of Transology TRANSCESTRY: 10 years of the Museum of Transology
- Winchester Cathedral Whales
- The Harris (Preston City Council) Wallace and Gromit In A Case at the Museum
- New Forest Heritage Centre & Romani Community Archaeology The Close
Marketing + Communications Campaign of the Year
- Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre Nara
- Imperial War Museums VE Day 80th Anniversary PR campaign
- Cyfarthfa Foundation and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Cyfarthfa200 – Maximising a Historical Milestone
- Natural History Museum Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?
- The Fitzwilliam Museum Made in Ancient Egypt Marketing and Communications campaign
The Museums + Heritage Awards ceremony takes place on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 in London.