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On Sat 18th April, V&A East becomes the third new free museum opening in London, following the openings of V&A East Storehouse and its David Bowie Centre. Ive put more info below including on the Storehouse, which is unlike any other museum with its more hands-on access for visitors, in case you missed it.
Offer link: vam.ac.uk/eassit .
Location: V&A East Museum, East Bank, 107 Carpenters Rd, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 2AR
V&A Blog – 5 things to know: vam.ac.uk/bloeum .
V&A East Museum celebrates making and creativitys power to bring change. Created with young people and rooted in east Londons heritage, V&A East Museum explores whats shaping our world with the voices that lead contemporary culture.
A powerhouse for innovation, creativity and learning a new kind of museum: five floors exploring how creativity changes the world, rooted in the communities and voices that are shaping global culture right now.
Designed by ODonnell Tuomey, with our free permanent Why We Make galleries created by JA Projects in collaboration with the V&A East Youth Collective, the building itself is a story of co-creation. Inside, over 500 objects spanning centuries and cultures place works by Leigh Bowery and Althea McNish in direct conversation with new east London acquisitions past and present, local and global.
TimeOut London review: timeout.com/lon626 .
What exactly is the V&A East
Not the V&A East Storehouse and not theV&A in South Kensington, the V&A East sits somewhere in between these two museums. Its sort of like the Victoria and Albert Museums edgy, younger sibling. Instead of a west London gallery packed with ancient items, which could be considered stuffy or boring to some, V&A East feels like a museum for the masses. Whats the V&A East like inside
What are the best things to see at the V&A East
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V&A EAST STOREHOUSE (vam.ac.uk/eassit )
Location: V&A East Storehouse, Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick, London E20 3AX
Londonist review: londonist.com/loneum .
Of course, still only a fraction of the collection can be seen at any one time. But the idea here, says our guide, is that curators are responsive, moving, agile. If a group comes in and wants to know more about 16th century Italian frescoes, a small display might be assembled for their next visit. Anyone can browse the collections and via the Order an Object service have one of 250,000 pieces and 350,000 books brought out to them, and them alone, to study a uniquely personal experience. If the items too big to come to their table, you will be taken to it an Indiana Jones adventure in miniature.
Make new discoveries, explore untold stories and share ideas at V&A East Storehouse. With half a million works, its a sourcebook for your creativity.
General admission to Storehouse is free and you dont need to book.
You can Order an Object online, appointments need to be made at least two weeks in advance of your visit.
At busy times, for your safety, we may need to ask you to queue to enter. If the queuing time is likely to be longer than 30 minutes, those who have bookings, or who are unable to wait in a queue for prolonged periods of time will be given priority.
Mini Displays
There are curated mini displays across all three levels of Storehouse.
You can use your phone to scan the QR codes in each display to find out more about the objects using the V&A East Storehouse Lookup.
Object Encounters
Object Encounters are free group sessions highlighting different objects in Storehouse. They run multiple times a day.
Find out whats happening on the noticeboard in the Welcome space. Sign up at the Study Centre on level 2 to join an encounter
Conservation Overlook
On level 3, you can watch our conservators at work in the conservation studio via a glass overlook balcony and live feed screen.
V&A East Storehouse is a working museum store thats open for you to explore.
Look at our visual story for V&A East Storehouse for more details on what the venue is like.
The building is designed to get you closer to objects held in the V&A collections, and to the work of the museum. The central Weston Collections Hall is the in the centre of the public route. Spread across three floors it reaches a height of over 20 metres. In the centre of the Collections Hall there is a section of glass flooring with a view down to the Agra Colonnade and working store below.
DAVID BOWIE CENTRE (vam.ac.uk/exhtre )
A new permanent home for David Bowies archive
A single room featuring guest-curated displays, including spaces where you can book time one-to-one with items from the archive.
Londonist – David Bowie Centre in pictures: londonist.com/lonast .
The real lure of the David Bowie Centre, however, is the V&As continued redefinition of a hands-on museum. Anyone can arrange to have any one of 2,500-odd Bowie-related objects pulled off the shelves, and placed in front of them for a private viewing. Among the pieces laid out on press day are the guitar Bowie strums in the Space Oddity video, a comically uncomfortable looking PVD tuxedo co-designed by Bowie and Mark Ravitz (the former wore it on an appearance on Saturday Night Live, and never again) and the double-ended key to the Berlin apartment Bowie shared with Iggy Pop. (The tales that key could tell…)
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Guitar from Space Oddity video
