Research Centre for Museums and Galleries receives special recognition at Museums + Heritage Awards 2024
Co-Director of Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, Professor Suzanne MacLeod (left) accepts Museums + Heritage Awards Judges’ Special Recognition Award (Credit: Hayley Bray)
University of Leicester’s groundbreaking Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG) was recognised at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024.
In a ceremony held last night (Wednesday, 15 May), RCMG received the Museums + Heritage Awards Judges’ Special Recognition Award for its outstanding contributions to the sector.
The award has only been issued twice before. Once to the National Museum of History of Ukraine and the National Trust.
Museums + Heritage Awards recognises the very best in museums and heritage across the world.
RCMG received the award for its deep commitment to supporting ethical, inclusive, equitable and importantly, research-led work across the whole sector.
The Centre, which celebrates its 25th year in 2024, has led multiple projects that have had a transformative impact, supporting organisations across the culture sector to advance trans inclusion, challenge embedded whiteness, tackle ableism, advance human rights and play an active role in engaging audiences around pressing contemporary issues.
The award acknowledges the support that colleagues and organisations across the sector receive from RCMG and the difference the research and our collaborative, practice-centred methodology makes.
Research Centre for Museums and Galleries is part of University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies, the only autonomous department in the UK dedicated to the study of museums and galleries. University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies is the oldest and largest academic unit of its kind in the world.
RCMG is Co-directed by Professor Suzanne MacLeod and Professor Richard Sandell.
Professor MacLeod said: “We are thrilled to receive this recognition of RCMG’s work. Since all of the Centre’s projects are deeply collaborative, we want to extend our sincere thanks to the many individuals and cultural partners who have worked with us, taken risks and invested so fully in developing new ethical ways of thinking and working.”
Professor Richard Sandell said: “We are all incredibly excited and grateful to receive this recognition, especially in our 25th year and at a time when, more than ever, we need to pull together to realise a more equitable and ethical sector that can play an important role in fostering a more inclusive society.”