The results of the 2019 Children in Museums Award were announced during the Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums conference in Frankfurt, Germany. 18 museums took part in the competition this year, with a short-list of seven finalists. Applications for the 2020 Children in Museums Award are open. Apply before 15 February 2020 to have your chance of winning.
The judges were unanimous in their decision to make Kër ImagiNation the winner of the 2019 Children in Museums Award: “The exhibition ‘Imagining Dakar: the city by its citizen children’ is about the environment in which children live, and results from children being encouraged to observe their surroundings, to explore and research, interview people and imagine a better future. The accent of the activity has been to increase children’s creative confidence and leadership skills, the goal being to develop young people who will be influential in the future. With very limited tools this institution achieves impressive results, enabling children to unleash their creative potential and to meet children from different communities. This broadens their understanding of the world, so important for new generations in a country with many challenges, economically, socially and culturally. Children from underprivileged families can experience being curators themselves, collaborate with artists, designers and architects. They understand that their voice can be heard through a museum and activity centre, highlighting the importance of museums in the wider context. Kër ImagiNation has lessons for all in the way it operates both within and beyond the walls of the institution to show how children’s opinions and creativity can be central to forward thinking for a better future in the outside world.”
