We are jumping for joy in Bristol, UK! The ss Great Britain has won the 
UK's largest arts prize, the Gulbenkian. See below.

Regards

Rosemary Silvester
Bristol Magpies (supporters Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives)
  - and a Friend of the ss Great Britain Trust!

Brunel’s ss Great Britain wins Gulbenkian Prize
26/5/06

The ss Great Britain, the world’s first great ocean liner, has won the 
£100,000 Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries in this, Brunel’s 
bicentenary year.

The judges were united in their admiration for Brunel’s ss Great 
Britain, with one judge describing the impact of the magnificent 
preserved hull as “visual poetry”. The 35-year battle to preserve the 
world’s first iron ocean-going ship culminated in her triumphant 
re-launch in July last year. Now she sits in her birthplace, Bristol’s 
Great Western Dockyard, on a glass “sea” above a giant dehumidification 
system, designed to halt the rampant corrosion in her iron hull.
Above the water line, the ship has been brought to life with all the 
sights, sounds and smells of a pioneering voyage to Australia, from the 
spartan functionality of third class passenger berths through to the 
opulence of the First Class Ladies' Boudoir.
Alongside is the Dockyard Museum where imaginative displays chart the 
history of Brunel's masterpiece and the stories of those who sailed with 
her and rescued her.

Robert Winston, Chairman of the Gulbenkian judges, who made the winning 
announcement at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects 
this evening, comments,

“Each of our four short-listed museums and galleries could have been a 
deserving winner but ss Great Britain got our unanimous vote for being 
outstanding at every level. It combines a truly groundbreaking piece of 
conservation, remarkable engineering and fascinating social history plus 
a visually stunning ship above and below the water line. Most 
importantly, the ss Great Britain is accessible and highly engaging for 
people of all ages.”

The Gulbenkian Prize is given annually to one museum or gallery anywhere 
in the UK, regardless of its size or budget. The Gulbenkian Prize 
celebrates the innovative and excellent work taking place in museums and 
galleries today that is challenging traditional public perceptions of 
their role.

FOR FULL PRESS RELEASE SEE:

http://www.thegulbenkianprize.org.uk/press/prwinner2006.htm

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