V&A East

V&A East stands in Stratford on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, part of the new East Bank cultural quarter. It is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, joining the original South Kensington site and three other venues across the UK. The project began in 2016 as part of the legacy plans for the 2012 London Olympics and took nearly a decade to complete. Gus Casely-Hayford serves as director of V&A East, overseeing two linked venues: the V&A East Museum and the V&A East Storehouse. Both buildings sit within a district that also includes BBC Music Studios, Sadler’s Wells East, UAL’s London College of Fashion and UCL East. The Storehouse opened first and has already drawn over half a million visitors in its first year. It operates as a working museum where visitors can request objects through the “Order an Object” service and view them in a study centre or learning zone. In 2025 Princess Catherine toured the Storehouse and later curated a small display called Makers and Creators, selecting nine objects to show how historic works inspire modern creativity. The Storehouse also houses the David Bowie Centre, an archive of more than 90,000 items including costumes, instruments and unreleased projects. A major touring exhibition of Bowie’s work began in 2026, visiting venues across the UK. The V&A East Museum opened to the public in April 2026 with two permanent “Why We Make” galleries showing over 500 objects from the V&A’s collections. Its first temporary exhibition, The Music Is Black: A British Story, traced 125 years of Black music in Britain through 220 objects and stage outfits. The museum also launched a six-month commissions programme featuring artists such as Tania Bruguera and Carrie Mae Weems, alongside a large bronze sculpture by Thomas J. Price at the entrance. Designed by O’Donnell & Tuomey, the five-storey building was developed with input from more than 30,000 young people consulted on its presentation and operation.