University news

The Hunterian has been shortlisted for a highly prestigious award in an internationally significant competition, it has been announced this week.

The refurbished Main Hall exhibition in the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has been short-listed for this year's Museums and Heritage Awards in the ‘Permanent Exhibitions’ category. Also short-listed in this category are: Imperial War Museum, Science Museum, National Museum (Liverpool; Slavery Museum), Natural History Museum, and London Transport Museum.

In addition, the exhibition ‘Anatomy Acts’, in which the Hunterian and other Scottish university museums partnered the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSE), has been short-listed for the award in the Temporary or Touring Exhibitions category. Other nominees in this category include the British Museum, for their ‘China's Terracotta Army’ exhibition, the Museum of London, and the V&A.

Ewen Smith, Director of the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery said:

"Regardless of the outcome of the award ceremony, to be ranked alongside such prestigious institutions is of enormous credit both to the University of Glasgow, whose collections and support are critical to the achievements of The Hunterian, and to the extraordinary dedication and skill of its staff. This is truly a top-class achievement of international significance."

The news follows the Hunterian Museum’s highly successful bicentenary celebrations last year, when it underwent a major refurbishment and reopened to wide critical and popular acclaim. Also in a memorable year, the University’s collections were formally acknowledged under the Scottish Government’s Recognition Scheme as a collection of national significance.

Further information:

Martin Shannon, Media Relations Officer
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 8593

Ewen Smith, Director, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 3711

Notes to Editors:

The Hunterian's foundation holdings were bequeathed to the University of Glasgow in 1783 by the eminent Scottish Enlightenment figure, Dr William Hunter, and represent an extraordinary legacy from the period. They are particularly important because of their age, origin and completeness.

Over the intervening centuries, Hunter's legacy has been supplemented by further highly significant collections of archaeology and antiquities, geology and fossils, entomology and scientific instruments, as well as extensive art collections of superb quality.

Of particular note and world-wide renown are prints from the Renaissance to the present day, major holdings by the Glasgow Boys, the Scottish Colourists, and the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and James McNeill Whistler. The role of these collections, which now number in excess of 1,137,000 objects, has been distinctively enhanced through their presence, development and use, in the context of a major research led University over a period of some 200 years.

Full list of awards and short-listed institutions.  

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

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First published: 27 March 2008