Museum fails to land place on shortlist

THE Museum of Flight has narrowly missed out on a place on the shortlist for Britain's most prestigious arts prize.

The Gulbenkian Prize shortlist, announced today, did not include the East Fortune museum - the only attraction in Scotland to make the ten-strong longlist.

The four museums to make it through are Brunel's SS Great Britain, docked at Bristol; Roman artefacts at The Collection: Art and Archaeology in Lincolnshire, Lincoln; the world's greatest collection of preserved medical specimens at The Hunterian Museum in London; and a new eco-gallery at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of the National Museums of Scotland, said: "Naturally we are disappointed that the Museum of Flight did not make it onto the shortlist for the Gulbenkian Prize.

"However, we were delighted to have been included on the longlist, a significant accolade which reflects the quality and appeal of the Concorde Experience."

The Gulbenkian Prize is the UK's biggest single arts prize with £100,000 given annually to one museum or gallery in the UK.

The winner will be announced on May 25.