Partition Museum shortlisted for international tourism award

Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25

A month after receiving an award from a UK-based foundation Museums + Heritage; the Partition Museum has now been shortlisted for the award ‘Best Wider World Tourism Project’ by the British Guild of Travel Writers’ (BGTW) International Tourism Awards 2020. The British Guild of Travel Writers is a community of more than 250 accredited writers, photographers, bloggers and broadcasters.

Recognising excellence in tourism projects

• The British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) International Tourism Awards are the ones that recognise excellence in tourism projects in the UK and across the world that members of the BGTW have visited in the course of their travels
• The BGTW is a community of more than 250 accredited writers, photographers, bloggers and broadcasters. The Partition Museum was nominated by travel writer, editor and BGTW member Meera Dattani.
• The Partition Museum houses one of the largest collections of the Partition memorabilia in the form of objects, oral histories, documents, and archival and personal photographs

The BGTW International Tourism Awards are the ones that recognise excellence in tourism projects in the UK and across the world that members of the BGTW have visited in the course of their travels and which they believe deserve wider recognition. The Partition Museum was nominated by travel writer, editor and BGTW member Meera Dattani.

The Partition Museum houses one of the largest collections of the Partition memorabilia in the form of objects, oral histories, documents, and archival and personal photographs. Since its opening, the museum has received more than half a million visitors and five national and international awards for excellence.

Commenting on the museum, Meera Dattani said, “India was my last trip before the pandemic and lockdown put an end to our travels. I visited Amritsar and Punjab for the first time in March 2020 and I wanted to visit the Partition Museum ever since it opened. It’s an incredible effort, a truly pioneering place in the heart of Amritsar, as the first museum in the world to document the largest mass migration in human history. Millions were killed and displaced in 1947 after India was crudely separated into two countries, India and Pakistan, and eventually three with Bangladesh, following independence from Britain and the Empire.”

Mallika Ahluwalia, CEO and Curator of the Partition Museum, Founder Trustee of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust, too shared her excitement over the nomination. “We are so honoured at being shortlisted for this award. We hope that more visitors from round the world will visit the museum to learn about one of the most defining events in the subcontinent’s history. Being a people’s museum, we continue to record, remember and preserve stories of the Partition survivors, and we request them and their family members to continue sharing their memories with us.” Winners will be announced on March 21next year in London.