ESSEN.- The director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor (b. 1946) accepted the International Folkwang Prize on 18 October in Essen. With the prize, the Museum-Folkwangsverein honors his outstanding commitment to the promotion of the arts of diverse cultures and across borders. The prize, endowed with 25,000 Euros and being awarded this year for the first time, is going to one of the most successful museum directors of today. The jury especially highlighted the close ties between research and promotion of the arts in MacGregor’s work as well as his services in securing the world’s patrimony. In exhibitions he also made less well-known cultures and period accessible from a contemporary point of view to a large number of people. He promoted cooperation and exchange between countries especially in those places where the political situation made this more difficult. With his History of the World in 100 Objects, which he