The cultural activities and tourism promotion has fast established a name for Qatar at international level. There are many architectural sites and cultural events that have been consistently wining international laurels for the country.
Recently, the nominees were revealed for 6th edition of the prestigious Leading Culture Destinations Awards in Berlin and the National Museum of Qatar has been nominated for three awards: New Cultural Destination of the Year (Middle East / Africa), Best Architecture of the Year (Jean Nouvel, French architect) and Best Shop of the Year.
Organised by Leading Culture Destinations (LCD) and presented in Berlin for the very first time in partnership with visitBerlin, the LCD Awards have been described as the “Oscars for Museums” and highlight the most exceptional established and emerging cultural initiatives around the world.
LCD Berlin is the first city-led initiative to build a sustainable ecosystem for culture and travel professionals. visitBerlin carries the mission of inspiring the world for Berlin. Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH conducts destination management as well as tourism and congress marketing for Berlin.
“As art has long played an important role in our imagination, experience and remembrance of places, cultures and travels – not to mention in our motivations to travel – the aim of LCD Berlin is not only to raise awareness of the nominees, but also to internationally promote the importance of all museums and cultural destinations.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with visitBerlin and to continue developing our new culture-travel ecosystem in Berlin and with the support of Professor Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation,” said Florian Wupperfeld, founder of LCD. “Cultural tourism is an incredibly valuable sector. In Berlin, more than 50% of visitors mention ‘culture’ as a key reason for their visit and we want to build bridges and synergies between tourism, culture and decision-makers,” he added.
This year, LCD Berlin takes place from 4-5 March and includes the awards ceremony, as well as the LCD Academy, a forum for the exploration of both historical and contemporary relationships and intersections between travel, tourism and art.
The nominees for this year’s awards represent some 50 cultural destinations in 26 countries around the world. The LCD Berlin Awards feature 18 awards in five different categories. Award categories include Leading Culture Destinations of the Year, New Culture Destinations of the Year, Soft Power Destinations of the Year, Climate Smart Award and the Avis Travellers’ Awards, as well as a new award for 2020: Best Cultural Initiative: Bridging Borders.
Countries featured include Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, the UAE, UK and USA.
The nominees for the 2020 LCD Awards in Berlin are: 


Leading Culture Destinations of the Year
Best Exhibition of the Year 
Sunday Carsten Höller – Museo Tamayo (Mexico City, Mexico)
Hilma af Klint – Paintings for the Future – Guggenheim New York (New York, USA)


Best Architecture of the Year
National Museum of Qatar – Jean Nouvel – (Doha, Qatar)
V&A Dundee – Kengo Kuma – (Dundee, Scotland, UK)
The Twist gallery – Bjarke Ingels – (Kistefos Museum And Sculpture Park, Norway)


Best Restaurant of the Year
AlpiNN – Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography – (Dolomiti, Italy)
Flutes – Singapore National Museum – (Singapore)
Beba – Gropius Bau – (Berlin, Germany)


Best Shop of the Year
Maritime Museum of Denmark (Elsinore, Denmark)
Picasso Museum (Paris, France)
National Museum of Qatar (Doha, Qatar)


Best Digital Experience of the Year
Atelier des Lumières (Paris, France)
AI: More than Human – Barbican (London, UK)
Ars Electronica Centre (Linz, Austria) 


New Culture Destinations of the Year
Asia Pacific
Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum (Hong Kong, China)
UCCA Dune Art Museum (Beidaihe, China)
Pompidou Shanghai / West Bund Art Museum (Shanghai, China)


Europe
Muzeum Susch (Susch, Switzerland)
MO Museum (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Amos Rex (Helsinki, Finland)


Latin America
Museum of Image and Sound (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Museo Regional Aysen (Patagonia, Chile)
SFER IK (Tulum, Mexico)


Middle East / Africa
National Museum of Qatar (Doha, Qatar)
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)
Palais de Lomé (Lome, Togo)


North America
Glenstone Museum (Potomac, Maryland, USA)
Transart Foundation for Art and Anthropology (Houston, Texas, USA)
MoMa re-opening (NYC, New York, USA)


Soft Power Destinations of the Year
Best Activation
Heidelberg Project (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Friar’s Music Museum by Downtown Yonge Bia (Toronto, Canada) 
Stellenbosch University Museum (Stellenbosch, South Africa)


Best Cultural Organisation
Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (Sault Ste. Marie, Canada)
Prince George’s African American Museum And Cultural Centre (North Brentwood, Maryland, USA)
Bihar Museum (Patna, India)


Best Cultural Collaboration
SAWA – Sharjah Museums Authority, UAE / State Museums of Berlin; University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW); Goethe-Institut, Germany (UAE / Germany)
Sisters in Liberty – Opera di Santa Croce and Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration (Santa Croce, Italy / New York)
Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa, Canada)


AVIS Travellers’ Awards
Best Culture Festival
Desert X (Coachella Valley, California, USA)
Lofoten International ARt Festival  2019 (Lofoten Islands, Norway)
Bergen Assembly (Bergen, Norway)


Best Emerging Culture City
Tbilisi (Georgia)
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Malaga (Spain)
Marrakech (Morocco)


Best Art Hotel
L’Arlatan (Arles, France)
The Fife Arms Hotel Hauser & Wirth (Braemar, Scotland, UK)
Can 7 (Formentera, Spain) 


Climate Smart Award in partnership with SUNx
The Climate Museum (NYC, New York, USA)
Not An Alternative (NYC, New York, USA)
Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change (Hong Kong, China)
Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost (Bremerhaven, Germany)


Best Cultural Initiative: Bridging Borders
Winner to be selected by public vote.