Recognising, responding, reimagining

All the collections in Historic Houses member places are unique, priceless, and inseparable from the individuals and families who have brought and kept them together. Each year our judges will choose a collection that best exemplifies the way that those who care for our independent heritage:

• Recognise and research the significance and stories of their artefacts;
• Respond to new imperatives and challenges, both social and technical;
• Reimagine the composition or presentation of the collection for a new generation.

What are the judges looking for?

The sorts of things likely to catch the judges’ eyes include:

• New conservation approaches, techniques, needs, challenges, projects, or efforts
• New ways of arranging, presenting, interpreting, capturing, communicating, or organising a collection, perhaps to draw out new links or connections to people, places, stories, or other objects, or to attract new audiences or respond to new or changed priorities among the public, academia, or the owners and curators
• New additions, acquisitions, returns, restorations, recoveries, rationalisations, or any other change to the composition and make-up of the collection to better preserve, protect, or enhance it
• New research, discoveries, understandings or realisations that shed new light on the academic, artistic, intellectual, historical, or social content and meaning of the collection and take forward, add to, or change its story in some way

Entries close on Friday 17 March.

The winner will be announced in November 2023. We look forward to sharing further updates about shortlists and judges throughout the year.

We also look forward to welcoming you later this summer for our second annual Summer exhibition, showcasing some of the finest and most interesting objects and artworks on display at Historic Houses member’s places. Further details to be announced in due course.

www.historichouses.org/the-collections-award
www.historichouses.org