Taigh Chearsabhagh shorlisted for prestigious UK arts prize

A local heritage project in the Western Isles has been shortlisted for Britain’s biggest single arts prize – the £100,000 Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year.

Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre in North Uist has been recognised for its innovative community project, Carn Chearsabhagh.  The North Uist Historical Society’s main museum collection is stored 23 miles away on the neighbouring island of Benbecula and the Carn Chearsabhagh project allowed the society to create a community museum for the 21st century.

Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre in North Uist has been recognised for its innovative community project, Carn Chearsabhagh.  The North Uist Historical Society’s main museum collection is stored 23 miles away on the neighbouring island of Benbecula and the Carn Chearsabhagh project allowed the society to create a community museum for the 21st century on their home island, based at Taigh Chearsabagh.

The Carn Chearsabhagh exhibition was freshly curated by 14 local groups – including youth and athletics clubs, a women’s group and local businesses – who each researched the history of a particular artefact from the North Uist Historical Society’s stored collected and explored how it related to their own community story.

As well as the main exhibition, a programme of ten other temporary exhibitions has been created over the past two years that has encouraged community ownership of local heritage.

Taigh Chearsabhagh, which was extended in 1999 with support from the Scottish Arts Council, welcomes more than 30,000 visitors every year to experience the arts, culture and heritage of the island.

The winner of the 2005 Gulbenkian Prize will be announced on 26 May 2005 at a ceremony in London.  For more information on the prize and other shortlisted museums, visit www.thegulbenkianprize.org.uk.