Some of the best museums around the world

By Maureen O'Hare, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 4:57 AM EST, Sat November 7, 2015
Designed by Frank Gehry, the recently opened Fondation Louis Vuitton was commissioned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, and sits in the verdant surroundings of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Read on to see the rest of the 2015 winners at the Leading Culture Destinations awards.
Best Architecture & Spatial Design: Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris —
Designed by Frank Gehry, the recently opened Fondation Louis Vuitton was commissioned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, and sits in the verdant surroundings of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Read on to see the rest of the 2015 winners at the Leading Culture Destinations awards.
Gehry Partners
The current big-ticket event at London's Tate Modern is "The World Goes Pop," a global look at pop art, which will run until January 24, 2016. Pictured: Miroslaw Balka's installation "How It Is" is displayed in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in October 2009.
Best Exhibitions and Programming: Tate Modern, London —
The current big-ticket event at London's Tate Modern is "The World Goes Pop," a global look at pop art, which will run until January 24, 2016. Pictured: Miroslaw Balka's installation "How It Is" is displayed in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in October 2009.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
MoMA introduced their new <a href="http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2015/04/14/momas-digital-art-vault" target="_blank" target="_blank">digital art vault</a> earlier this year. It involved the mammoth task of digitizing over 4,000 video tapes of analog video art.
Best Digital Experience: Museum of Modern Art, New York —
MoMA introduced their new digital art vault earlier this year. It involved the mammoth task of digitizing over 4,000 video tapes of analog video art.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
There are few better ways to enjoy panoramic views over Paris than from Georges, the rooftop French-fusion restaurant and terrace at the top of the Centre Pompidou. Architects Dominique Jacob and Brendan McFarlane are behind the industrial-chic interior.
Best Eat & Drink: Centre Pompidou, Paris —
There are few better ways to enjoy panoramic views over Paris than from Georges, the rooftop French-fusion restaurant and terrace at the top of the Centre Pompidou. Architects Dominique Jacob and Brendan McFarlane are behind the industrial-chic interior.
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images
In 2015, the Alexander McQueen "Savage Beauty" show broke attendance records at London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The tie-in merchandising in their store also came in for praise.
Best Shop: Victoria & Albert Museum, London —
In 2015, the Alexander McQueen "Savage Beauty" show broke attendance records at London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The tie-in merchandising in their store also came in for praise.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
New York's Museum of Modern Art is currently hosting the first U.S. sculpture of Picasso sculptures in 50 years, while 2015 has seen shows devoted to Yoko Ono, Bjork and London-based artists Gilbert & George.
Overall Winner: Leading Culture Destination of the Year: MoMA, New York —
New York's Museum of Modern Art is currently hosting the first U.S. sculpture of Picasso sculptures in 50 years, while 2015 has seen shows devoted to Yoko Ono, Bjork and London-based artists Gilbert & George.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, England, reopened earlier this year after a $23 million refurbishment. It's already been awarded the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2015.
Best Emerging Culture Destination of the Year: Europe -- The Whitworth, The University of Manchester —
The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, England, reopened earlier this year after a $23 million refurbishment. It's already been awarded the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2015.
Alan Williams / Leading Culture Destinations 2015
Designed by architect Shigeru Ban, the Oita Prefectural Art Museum opened in Japan earlier this year. Its lattice design is inspired by traditional Japanese bamboo craft.
Best Emerging Culture Destination of the Year: Asia -- Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita —
Designed by architect Shigeru Ban, the Oita Prefectural Art Museum opened in Japan earlier this year. Its lattice design is inspired by traditional Japanese bamboo craft.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
Morocco hasn't traditionally been known for the arts, but all that could be set to change with the opening last year of Museum MMP+, one of the world's biggest photography galleries.
Best Emerging Culture Destination: Africa -- MMP+, Marrakech —
Morocco hasn't traditionally been known for the arts, but all that could be set to change with the opening last year of Museum MMP+, one of the world's biggest photography galleries.
Courtesy of MMP+
New York's Whitney Museum of American Art reopened this year in a new location in the fashionable Meatpacking district. It started out in Greenwich Village in 1931, before relocating to the Upper East Side in the 1960s.
Best Emerging Culture Destination: North America -- Whitney Museum, New York —
New York's Whitney Museum of American Art reopened this year in a new location in the fashionable Meatpacking district. It started out in Greenwich Village in 1931, before relocating to the Upper East Side in the 1960s.
Karin Jobst / Leading Culture Destinations 2015
Mexico's Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida opened in 2012 and has a permanent exhibition of 500 artifacts related to Mayan history.
Best Emerging Culture Destination: Central & South America -- Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida, Merida —
Mexico's Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida opened in 2012 and has a permanent exhibition of 500 artifacts related to Mayan history.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
Opened in the Qatari capital Doha in 2010, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, is the world's first museum devoted to Arabic modern art. It contains over 6,000 artworks.
Best Emerging Culture Destination: Middle East -- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha —
Opened in the Qatari capital Doha in 2010, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, is the world's first museum devoted to Arabic modern art. It contains over 6,000 artworks.
KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images
Designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero and bankrolled by tycoon Carlos Slim, the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City opened in 2011 and is now the most visited museum in the country.
Best Emerging City for Culture: Mexico City —
Designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero and bankrolled by tycoon Carlos Slim, the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City opened in 2011 and is now the most visited museum in the country.
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
This French hotel and restaurant started life in the 1920s as a cafe-bar, and has been host to everyone from Pablo Picasso to Jacque Prevert and James Baldwin. Their famous guests have added to the incredible private art collection, which includes work by Matisse and Cesar.
Best Art Experience in a Hotel: La Colombe d'Or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence —
This French hotel and restaurant started life in the 1920s as a cafe-bar, and has been host to everyone from Pablo Picasso to Jacque Prevert and James Baldwin. Their famous guests have added to the incredible private art collection, which includes work by Matisse and Cesar.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015
2015 winners: Leading Culture Destinations

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in October 2015.

Story highlights

This is the second year of the prestigious Leading Culture Destinations awards

They honor the world's most visionary art institutions and new culture hotspots

New York's MoMA awarded Best Digital Experience and Overall 2015 Winner

CNN  — 

Are the glory days of some of the world’s best known museums now ancient history? Seems that way from the results of one of the museum world’s leading awards.

OK, so the top prize in the prestigious Leading Culture Destinations 2015 awards, announced in London, goes to a classic – the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Plenty of other usual suspects also made the cut including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and London’s Tate Modern.

But other giants of the museum world were elbowed out in favor of new arrivals like the spectacular Oita Prefectural Art Museum in Japan, and architecture supremo Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Who got left out?

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, won Best Emerging Culture Destination in the Middle East.
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, won Best Emerging Culture Destination in the Middle East.
KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images

That meant no silverware for France’s Louvre. It might be the world’s most visited art museum, but it didn’t even get a look-in. Global heavyweights including Florence’s Galleria degli Uffizi and Madrid’s Reina Sofia are similarly out in the cold.

The selections reflect the shift away from the art world’s big boys in New York, Paris and London.

After all, 2013’s most attended art exhibitions were in Taipei and Rio de Janeiro, not Europe or North America.

The 2015 list gives shout-outs to Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida in Mexico, and other unexpected destinations that are beginning to present serious competition on the global stage.

Eating, drinking and shopping

La Colombe d'Or's private art collection includes works by Matisse and Cesar.
La Colombe d'Or's private art collection includes works by Matisse and Cesar.
Courtesy of Leading Culture Destinations 2015

In addition, the cultural institutions leading the way this year aren’t just about art appreciation. They’re also places to eat, drink, work, shop, socialize and even sleep.

As Andy Warhol said: “All department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores.”

So alongside exhibitions and programming, museums are also judged on architecture and spatial design, digital experience, shopping, and eating and drinking.

There’s even a category for best art experience in a hotel, with this year’s winner being France’s La Colombe d’Or, a favorite of stars including Francis Ford Coppola and Drew Barrymore.

The full list of winners and nominees are below:

Best exhibitions and programming

Tate Modern, London (UK) – Winner

Museum of Modern Art, New York (U.S.)

Victoria & Albert Museum, London (UK)

New Museum, New York (U.S.)

Serpentine Gallery, London (UK)

Best architecture and spatial design

Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (France) – Winner

Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao (Spain)

State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (Russia)

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (Qatar)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (U.S.)

Best digital experience

Museum of Modern Art, New York (U.S.) – Winner

Victoria & Albert Museum, London (UK)

Getty Center, Los Angeles (U.S.)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (U.S.)

Tate Modern, London (UK)

Best eat and drink

Centre Pompidou, Paris (France) – Winner

Tate Modern, London (UK)

Serpentine Gallery, London (UK)

Palais de Tokyo, Paris (France)

Somerset House, London (UK)

Best shop

Victoria & Albert Museum, London (UK) – Winner

Museum of Modern Art, New York (U.S.)

Palais de Tokyo, Paris (France)

Tate Modern, London (UK)

Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris (France)

Overall winner: Leading culture destination of the year

Museum of Modern Art, New York (U.S.) – Winner

Best emerging culture destination: Europe

Whitworth Gallery, Manchester (UK) – Winner

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

The Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris (France)

Barcelona Design Museum, Barcelona (Spain)

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (Russia)

Fondazione Prada, Milan (Italy)

Best emerging culture destination: Asia

Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita (Japan) – Winner

Museum SAN, Wonj (South Korea)

Asia Modern, Wufeng, Taichung (Taiwan)

Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing (China)

Pinacotheque De Paris (Singapore)

Best emerging culture destination: Africa

Museum MMP +, Marrakech (Morocco) – Winner

Museum Mohammed VI, Rabat (Morocco)

Ouidah Museum of History (Benin)

Thread by Foundation Annie & Josef Albers, Sinthian (Senegal)

Best emerging culture destination: North America

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (U.S.) – Winner

Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg (Canada)

Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, New York (U.S.)

The Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (U.S.)

Mana Contemporary, New Jersey (U.S.)

Best emerging culture destination: Central & South America

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida, Merida (Mexico) – Winner

The Biomuseo, Panama City (Panama)

Museum of Memory and Tolerance, Mexico City (Mexico)

Museo Soumaya, Mexico City (Mexico)

La ene – Nuevo museo energia de arte contemporaneo, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janerio (Brazil)

Best emerging culture destination: Middle East

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, (Qatar) – Winner

Oman National Museum, Muscat (Oman)

Design Museum, Holon (Israel)

Dubai Moving Image Museum, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

Salsali Private Museum, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

Best art experience in a hotel

La Colombe d’Or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence (France) – Winner

Gramercy Park Hotel, New York (U.S.)

Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resort, Rome (Italy)

Gladstone Hotel, Toronto (Canada)

Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai (China)

Palace Hotel Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)

Best emerging city for culture

Mexico City (Mexico) – Winner

Manchester (UK)

Oslo (Norway)

Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

Venice (Italy)