It’s awards season in the arts and three of Canberra’s national collecting institutions have come up trumps.

The National Film and Sound Archive won a National Trust of Australia (ACT) Heritage Award for renewal of its heritage Art Deco building in Acton, specifically for work on the library, foyer and “Mediatheque” spaces, designed by Henning Larsen Architects.

Describing the changed as “an excellent refurbishment,” the judging panel said, “the works removed layers of fabric to simplify and showcase the original building’s fabric and character… the project… shows real originality in its approach.”

Meantime, on Tuesday in The Goods Shed in Ballarat, winners were announced at the 2024 Australian Museums and Galleries Association’s Awards, hosted by filmmaker, historian and author Santilla Chingaipe.

Nineteen awards were presented at the ceremony in categories such as Exhibiting Excellence, Social Impact, First Nations and Moving Image.

The National Gallery of Australia won an Excellence In Print Award: Group 2 for its publication Cressida Campbell. The judges were impressed by the “beautifully elegant typography and the stunning reproductions”.

Winner of the Kids In Print Award was the National Museum of Australia for The Bunyip and the Stars, praised by the judges for its “exceptional production quality”.