Media Release, Tūhura Otago Museum named among world’s best at prestigious International Museum Awards, Tūhura Otago Museum, May 2026
Tūhura Otago Museum has been recognised on the international stage after being named a top five finalist in the prestigious International Exhibition of the Year category at the 2026 Museums + Heritage Awards in London.
Often referred to as the “Oscars of the museum world”, the Museums + Heritage Awards celebrate the very best museums, galleries, and cultural institutions from across the globe. Past finalists and winners have included the British Museum, The Met in New York, Sydney Maritime Museum, and major institutions from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Out of more than 50 entries from every continent, Tūhura Otago Museum’s summer exhibition The Gallery Gang’s Big Adventure was shortlisted among the top five exhibitions worldwide, standing alongside some of the largest and most well-funded museums on earth.
The award was ultimately won by Universalmuseum Joanneum in Austria for Schloss Eggenberg: the Staging of a World, but judges praised Tūhura’s exhibition for its storytelling, creativity, and powerful community impact.
Museums + Heritage Awards Director Anna Preedy said being named among the top five exhibitions globally was an extraordinary achievement.
“It is fantastic to see a museum from Dunedin, New Zealand recognised on the international stage alongside some of the world’s most established cultural institutions,” she said.
One of the competition judges, Bernard Donoghue OBE, Chief Executive of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions — the United Kingdom’s leading tourism and visitor attraction body representing many of Britain’s most significant museums, galleries, palaces, heritage sites, zoos, cathedrals, and cultural organisations — said Tūhura should be immensely proud of its achievement.
“The exhibition stood out for its amazing storytelling and the impact it had on the community. It showed that even with smaller budgets, museums can create exhibitions worthy of the international stage,” he said.
Designed by Design and Exhibitions Manager Shanaya Cunningham and Senior Designer Annah Taggart, the interactive exhibition transformed the museum experience for children and families through craft stations, immersive storytelling, and seven original characters inspired by Tūhura’s collections and taoka.
Children could create artworks and projects linked directly to real museum objects and galleries, encouraging exploration and deeper engagement with the museum’s collections.
Mrs Cunningham said simply becoming a finalist felt surreal.
“We were the only finalist from the Southern Hemisphere and were up against museums from China, Europe, and Egypt — some of the best museums in the world,” she said.
“So we couldn’t be more proud.”
Ms Taggart said the recognition showed that museums from smaller cities could compete with the very best in the world.
“For a museum at the bottom of the world to be recognised on this level is incredibly special,” she said.
“This exhibition was built around creativity, accessibility, and genuine connection with families and children. To see that resonate internationally is something really emotional for us.”
Running over summer, The Gallery Gang’s Big Adventure featured more than 30 different craft activities, interactive characters representing museum collections, reward cards and stickers, and direct links to real objects and exhibitions throughout the museum. The exhibition was designed to be highly accessible and affordable, with free adult entry included with children’s tickets.
The Museums + Heritage Awards judges said this year’s finalists represented the very best of the global museum sector, celebrating innovation, accessibility, storytelling, and community impact.
For Tūhura Otago Museum, the recognition marks one of the most significant international achievements in the institution’s history and places Dunedin firmly on the global cultural map.