The first thing all visitors see at the V&A East museum is a young person, smartphone in hand, staring into the horizon. The 18-ft bronze sculpture by Thomas J Price is “the personification of everything we aim to deliver with the museum,” says Gus Casely Hayford, director of V&A East.
The museum believes its future depends on putting young people at the centre of the conversation, so it has taken the discourse to them, in more ways than one. Since the easing of pandemic restrictions, Casely Hayford has cycled to more than 100 nearby schools, speaking at assemblies and in classrooms about what V&A East might have to offer.
“We consulted with over 30,000 local residents and artists as well,” he says.
The resultant space, which opened in April, adds a new chapter to the 174-year legacy of the Victoria and Albert. It follows V&A East Storehouse, a sister venue a short walk away, that holds over 250,000 artefacts in a space that looks like a giant Ikea, serves as an actual storehouse of art and artefacts (with some now on display, by rotation), and opened to the public in May 2025.
The five-storey V&A East, with a pleated facade designed by the Dublin-based O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects, contains two permanent galleries and exhibition and events spaces.
The two galleries bring together 500 eclectic objects from the V&A collection that make unexpected connections across eras, cultures and creative disciplines.
Revolutionary anti-imperialist posters from the 1960s and ’70s sit alongside the iconic pink knitted hats of the 2017 Women’s March.
The fashion section holds the bright pink Daria dress by Molly Goddard (2019), made from 200 feet of nylon tulle and worn by Beyoncé in the visual album Black is King (2020). A 17th-century floral silk gown by East London designer Anna Maria Garthwaite, likely last owned by a maid in 1780. And a 1990 Cut, Slash & Pull denim ensemble by Vivienne Westwood.
Meanwhile, an inaugural exhibition titled Music is Black: A British Story uses 200 objects — from apparel and sheet music to musical instruments and rare cinematic footage, from 1900 to the present day — to tell the story of how Caribbean immigration birthed homegrown music genres such as Brit funk, jungle, drum & bass, trip hop, UK garage and grime.
On display here is a piano that belonged to Winifred Atwell, the first Black artist to score a UK #1 hit, in 1953; influential grime MC Jme’s Super Nintendo and Mario Paint games, which he used in early experiments with music-making in the 1990s; and Stormzy’s iconic stab-proof Union Jack vest, designed by Banksy and worn when the artist headlined Glastonbury in 2019.
YOUNG AT ART
Young people weren’t just consulted, they also serve as consultants at the museum.
The V&A East Youth Collective Programme offers paid 10-month gigs to East Londoners aged 16 to 25. These advisors have shaped programming and design briefs, opening hours and ticket prices.
“We want to be a dedicated space for new audiences and new creative practices, offering the tools to arm a generation hungry to catalyse change in the world,” Casely Hayford says.
Temporary exhibitions, meanwhile, will seek to champion local artists and bring lesser-known stories to the fore.
On display at the moment, for instance, is Heads! Look to the Workers, a series of moving sculptures by artist Laura Wilson that honours the workers of East London’s theatres, factories and other labour-driven establishments. Also on display is Dispersal, which sees photographers Marion Davies and Debra Rapp document small-scale units in the region, such as belt-making, salmon smoking and stained-glass workshops.
CIRCA RIGHT NOW
Could spaces such as V&A East help rethink what a museum can be?
“A museum of the future doesn’t just reflect the world, but is a platform for change,” says Casely Hayford. “In today’s society, where we face challenges from the climate crisis to increasing polarisation, museums and the creative industries have a vital role in driving culture forward by celebrating communities and spotlighting the many ways that global artists, designers and makers are using their creativity to change the world for the better.”
Such shifts are a heartening response to new cultural contexts, adds museologist Vinod Daniel, chair of AusHeritage, Australia’s international network for cultural heritage management, and former board member of the International Council of Museums.
As heavily carpeted, strictly curated rooms give way to glass panels, open-plan structures and interactive displays, even restoration, once hidden from public view, is becoming part of the draw, Daniel adds. “Conservators build a glass facade around it, inviting people to stop, look and ask questions about how something centuries old can still retain its colour, detail and originality.” And suddenly, something rooted in the past isn’t rooted in the past any more.
