Canadian Museum for Human Rights nabs award at 'Oscars for museums' in London

Winnipeg's own Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) is one of the cultural hotspots travellers across the world need to put on their vacation bucket lists, according to London-based Leading Culture Organizations.

The organization honoured the CMHR Friday with the award for Best Soft Power Cultural Organization, a newly-created category designed to acknowledge the importance of cultural organizations "that have powerful influence and impact based on excellence, relevance, transparency, accountability and sustainability."

The museum beat out five other international museums for the honour, including museums in Afghanistan, America, the Philippines, Poland and Suriname.

The museum has now won 30 international, national and regional awards for its architecture, technology and visitor experience since it opened in 2014, the CMHR said in a statement.

John Young, CEO and president of the CMHR, said Canadians should be proud of the honour, as the new award shows that it is a world-class cultural institution.

"This award will encourage more visitors from around the world to make the trip to Winnipeg and experience for themselves the cultural and architectural marvel that is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights," Young said in a statement.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman nominated the museum for the award. In a statement, Bowman said the museum has had a "profound effect on our city, both conceptually and architecturally."

"From the subject matter to the effect on Winnipeg's skyline, the CMHR commands the attention of the beholder," Bowman said in the statement. "As a city, we're thrilled to have such an important cultural icon that has the ability to inspire current and future generations."

The museum also won the International Architecture Award from the prestigious Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design in 2016, as well as two other awards by the Canadian Museums Association for educational programming.