For further information about Kew Palace please contact Sarah Watson on 020 3166 6166 or email sarah.watson@hrp.org.uk . To download images of Kew Palace and some of the objects on display please visit HRP’s online photographic library at hrp.newsteam.co.uk.

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The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries 2007

• Paula Ridley, who is both Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Branch and Chairman of the V&A, took no part in assessing applications for the Prize at any stage of the process.

• The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries is principally funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, whose Headquarters are in Lisbon. For 50 years the Foundation’s UK Branch has been a pioneering funder of developments in contemporary arts, education and social policy in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and a leading agency in the promotion of Portuguese culture. The Arts Programme has traditionally played an active role in encouraging artists and arts organisations, including museums, to find original and inventive ways of developing their practice. It currently has two funding programmes, The Arts in Public Spaces and The Arts and Science.

• Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was an Armenian, who became a British citizen and conducted his business in London before finally settling in Portugal. His distinguished private collection of art and artefacts is housed in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, which is recognised as one of the best small museums in Europe. The tradition of collecting has been continued by the Foundation and the holdings of its Modern Art Centre include an extensive collection of modern British artworks.

• The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries is administered by the Museum Prize, a charitable company created in 2002 by The Art Fund, the Campaign for Museums, the Museums Association, and National Heritage.

• The Prize is also supported by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the national development agency working for and on behalf of museums, libraries and archives and advising government on policy and priorities for the sector.

Additional sponsorship and in-kind support provided by:
• A Supporter of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
• Blackwall Green (a member of the Heath Lambert Group)
• Consensus Business Group
• The Arbib Foundation
• Event Communications
• Lloyds TSB Private Banking
• Endsleigh Insurance Brokers
• Caixa Geral de Depositos
• Farrer & Co
• D&F Wines
• 24 Hour Museum
Other short-listed museums and galleries are:

• Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum for their New Century Project,
     Glasgow
• Pallant House, Chichester, West Sussex
• Weston Park Museum, Sheffield

For more information on the Gulbenkian Prize and the full long-list please contact Iliana Taliotis, Kate Wright-Morris or Liz Sich at Colman Getty PR, telephone: 020 7631 2666, Email: iliana@colmangetty.co.uk, Out of hours: 07931 341 112