Revamped National Portrait Gallery among contenders for museum of the year

Shortlist dominated by institutions that have undergone extensive renovations, including Young V&A and Manchester Museum

The National Portrait Gallery, the Manchester Museum and the Young V&A are among the contenders for this year’s museum of the year award, as institutions that have undergone extensive renovations and reappraised their collections dominate the shortlist.

In recent years, the prize has been praised for moving away from focusing on attention-grabbing capital projects, but this year museums that have invested in multimillion-pound facelifts make up most of the shortlist.