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CNN
28-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNN
In this museum space, the objects are yours to touch
From 31 May, one of the world's largest art and design museums is offering the public not just a rare peek behind the curtain, but a chance for visitors to poke about, see up close — and touch — historical and culturally significant pieces. The V&A Storehouse East — a new museum-grade storage facility turned exhibition and research space in London — is a project over 10 years in the making, and one that aims to reframe the traditional museum experience. Spread across four mighty floors (though only three are accessible to the public), there are over 250,000 objects, ranging from Roman frescoes and an early 14th century Simone Martini painting to avant-garde fashion and couture from the likes of Schiaparelli, Comme des Garçons and Vivienne Westwood. The open access offered to visitors turns museum conventions on its head, where works on display are usually roped off, guarded and therefore only admired from a distance. 'This is real back-of-house museum work,' said the V&A East Storehouse's senior curator Georgina Haseldine, standing in front of rows and rows of priceless objects — from paintings by Margaret Sarah Carpenter to 18th century hunting swords — ahead of its public opening. 'We want visitors to learn what a collection is, how we store it… How colleagues work across the museum, from conservators to the technical service team.' Designed by American interdisciplinary design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the space includes a central hall reaching 20 meters high. From all directions, rows of metal shelves housing furniture, artworks, mannequins and more stretch outwards. Here, visitors can peer up or down from the upper floors. With so much to see, it is easy to feel engulfed by the sheer volume of items in possession. 'On average, only 3% of a museum's collection is on display at any given time,' estimated Diller Scofidio + Renfro co-founding partner Elizabeth Diller at the Storehouse's opening. 'The other 97% is hidden away in the basement, or off-site in a warehouse. As museums accumulate more and more collections, the proportion of works on display is just going to diminish over time unless we build new wings to accommodate more stuff.' For the V&A, thousands of artefacts previously relegated to deep storage are now finally seeing the light — with some works, as is the case with the awe-inspiring Altamira ceiling (a gilded softwood ceiling originating from Toledo, Spain and dating back to the late 15th century), they are being seen for the first time in decades. Similarly, the dazzling 10-meter-high recreation of Picasso's 'Two Women Running along the Beach (The Race) (1922)' painted by Prince Alexander Sharvashidze is being shown for the first time in over 10 years. The front cloth, used by a travelling ballet company in 1924, was even signed by Picasso himself. These collections belong to the public. And it's just incredible that we can enable access. Kate Parsons, the V&A's director of conservation, collections care and access The result is akin to a big, artisanal IKEA (unmissable is the pleasant smell of wood, likely emanating from one of the many ancient chest of drawers — the oldest dating back to 1410) or in the eyes of Diller, a cabinet of curiosities. 'The V&A's collection is eccentric in the first place,' she said. 'Where else would you encounter suits of armors, stage cloths, biscuit tins, building fragments, puppets, thimbles, chandeliers, motorcycles next to each other?' Instead of alphabetising, or organizing based on strict chronology, Diller decided to 'lean into the delirium' — placing items that spanned across medium, time periods and geographical location right next to one another. 'It's a 16th century form of display,' she explained. 'Which was more for private collections, but (they) also would put delirious things together.' As expected, lifting the menagerie of items right off the shelf is prohibited — this is not actually an IKEA, after all — but touching, surprisingly, is not entirely off-limits. Visitors keen to hold a centuries-old shoe in their own hands need only take the time to log on and book a slot at the Storehouse's on-site Research Center . There, invigilators and conservationists are on-hand to teach the public how to properly handle culturally significant works. The online booking portal has been open since 13 May, with the V&A already reportedly receiving requests from curious members of the public, ranging from avid researchers to brides-to-be looking for wedding dress inspiration. So far, the most requested item is a fuchsia 1957 Cristobal Balenciaga gown. Laid out in the Research Center, the frock's silk taffeta looks almost iridescent up close. Breathing near it feels inconsiderate — but Kate Parsons, director of conservation, collections care and access at the V&A, reassured there is climate control across the facility, keeping the Storehouse at between 16 and 25 degrees centigrade and 40-60% humidity, as per international standards, along with a variety of methods that tie down or secure items to the viewing table. Still, is she nervous about putting these invaluable items in the hands of the public? 'No. Not at all,' she told CNN. 'We've thought very carefully about the robustness of the object.' 'These collections belong to the public. And it's just incredible that we can enable access.'
CNN
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
In this museum space, the objects are yours to touch
From 31 May, one of the world's largest art and design museums is offering the public not just a rare peek behind the curtain, but a chance for visitors to poke about, see up close — and touch — historical and culturally significant pieces. The V&A Storehouse East — a new museum-grade storage facility turned exhibition and research space in London — is a project over 10 years in the making, and one that aims to reframe the traditional museum experience. Spread across four mighty floors (though only three are accessible to the public), there are over 250,000 objects, ranging from Roman frescoes and an early 14th century Simone Martini painting to avant-garde fashion and couture from the likes of Schiaparelli, Comme des Garçons and Vivienne Westwood. The open access offered to visitors turns museum conventions on its head, where works on display are usually roped off, guarded and therefore only admired from a distance. 'This is real back-of-house museum work,' said the V&A East Storehouse's senior curator Georgina Haseldine, standing in front of rows and rows of priceless objects — from paintings by Margaret Sarah Carpenter to 18th century hunting swords — ahead of its public opening. 'We want visitors to learn what a collection is, how we store it… How colleagues work across the museum, from conservators to the technical service team.' Designed by American interdisciplinary design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the space includes a central hall reaching 20 meters high. From all directions, rows of metal shelves housing furniture, artworks, mannequins and more stretch outwards. Here, visitors can peer up or down from the upper floors. With so much to see, it is easy to feel engulfed by the sheer volume of items in possession. 'On average, only 3% of a museum's collection is on display at any given time,' estimated Diller Scofidio + Renfro co-founding partner Elizabeth Diller at the Storehouse's opening. 'The other 97% is hidden away in the basement, or off-site in a warehouse. As museums accumulate more and more collections, the proportion of works on display is just going to diminish over time unless we build new wings to accommodate more stuff.' For the V&A, thousands of artefacts previously relegated to deep storage are now finally seeing the light — with some works, as is the case with the awe-inspiring Altamira ceiling (a gilded softwood ceiling originating from Toledo, Spain and dating back to the late 15th century), they are being seen for the first time in decades. Similarly, the dazzling 10-meter-high recreation of Picasso's 'Two Women Running along the Beach (The Race) (1922)' painted by Prince Alexander Sharvashidze is being shown for the first time in over 10 years. The front cloth, used by a travelling ballet company in 1924, was even signed by Picasso himself. These collections belong to the public. And it's just incredible that we can enable access. Kate Parsons, the V&A's director of conservation, collections care and access The result is akin to a big, artisanal IKEA (unmissable is the pleasant smell of wood, likely emanating from one of the many ancient chest of drawers — the oldest dating back to 1410) or in the eyes of Diller, a cabinet of curiosities. 'The V&A's collection is eccentric in the first place,' she said. 'Where else would you encounter suits of armors, stage cloths, biscuit tins, building fragments, puppets, thimbles, chandeliers, motorcycles next to each other?' Instead of alphabetising, or organizing based on strict chronology, Diller decided to 'lean into the delirium' — placing items that spanned across medium, time periods and geographical location right next to one another. 'It's a 16th century form of display,' she explained. 'Which was more for private collections, but (they) also would put delirious things together.' As expected, lifting the menagerie of items right off the shelf is prohibited — this is not actually an IKEA, after all — but touching, surprisingly, is not entirely off-limits. Visitors keen to hold a centuries-old shoe in their own hands need only take the time to log on and book a slot at the Storehouse's on-site Research Center . There, invigilators and conservationists are on-hand to teach the public how to properly handle culturally significant works. The online booking portal has been open since 13 May, with the V&A already reportedly receiving requests from curious members of the public, ranging from avid researchers to brides-to-be looking for wedding dress inspiration. So far, the most requested item is a fuchsia 1957 Cristobal Balenciaga gown. Laid out in the Research Center, the frock's silk taffeta looks almost iridescent up close. Breathing near it feels inconsiderate — but Kate Parsons, director of conservation, collections care and access at the V&A, reassured there is climate control across the facility, keeping the Storehouse at between 16 and 25 degrees centigrade and 40-60% humidity, as per international standards, along with a variety of methods that tie down or secure items to the viewing table. Still, is she nervous about putting these invaluable items in the hands of the public? 'No. Not at all,' she told CNN. 'We've thought very carefully about the robustness of the object.' 'These collections belong to the public. And it's just incredible that we can enable access.'
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘We want people to feel like they're trespassing': Inside the V&A's latest venture
From the outside, it's a big-box building in the former Olympic Park. Inside, it is something else entirely: an enormous, kaleidoscopic cabinet of wonders, crossed with an Amazon warehouse. V&A East Storehouse in Stratford is the new home for the national collection of prized clutter. Tier upon tier of shelving groaning with objects seemingly in no particular order, from enormous antique armoires to couture gowns to a child's rocking horse to Keith Moon's drum kit. A week before opening, over three floors ascending to the roof and a fourth working floor beneath a glass mezzanine, museum workers scuttle around carrying boxes and wrestling with wrapping materials. It looks like a Richard Scarry illustration come to life. When Storehouse opens this Saturday the public will be free to wander around via glass walkways. Staff will go about their duties in full view. And anyone can get closer to the collection via an online Order an Object service. This place holds 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 special archives. Make an appointment to view up to five items, seven days a week, 363 days a year, for free. 'It's our workshop, it's where we safeguard everything, and it's a deliberately public space,' says Tim Reeve, the deputy director of the V&A who is leading the project. 'You don't even need a membership card.' It is, he says, a museum turned inside out. 'We wanted people to feel like they're trespassing. Am I allowed here? That feeling of joy, seeing behind the curtain….' The 16,000 square-metre building is a retrofit of the former London 2012 Olympics media centre and the work of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, US architects of the smash-hit High Line public park in Manhattan. 'Rather than try to organise the V&A collection into taxonomies, we thought we would lean into the delirium of it,' says Elizabeth Diller, the architect behind the transformation. She cites the cabinet of curiosities as the model, a term first coined in Renaissance Europe to describe a private collection of treasures and a forerunner to the museum, and which these days refers to a hotchpotch of collected artefacts. Since the V&A's 1852 founding as the Museum of Manufactures, Prince Albert's pet project, its collections have grown to 'span over 5,000 years of human creativity' – and will keep growing. It's one of the world's biggest museums of decorative arts and design, custodian of everything from a 3,000-year-old Shang Dynasty jade ceremonial blade to David Bowie's costumes and ephemera (his archives will be accessible from September via a dedicated study room). Besides South Kensington, which displays 60,000 objects and draws three million visitors a year, more V&A outposts have arrived in recent decades, including V&A Dundee and a refreshed Young V&A (formerly the Museum of Childhood). View this post on Instagram A post shared by V&A East (@vam_east) Still there was not enough space. Government plans to sell the overflowing Blythe House, the V&A's former shared storage facility in west London, were announced in 2015 after which DCMS gave the V&A £63m towards a new one. More money was raised through private philanthropy. The storehouse may also help counter another problem: transparency. Museums are under pressure to reveal what they keep stashed away amid rows about restitution. By letting the public behind the scenes to see how the V&A protects, stores and catalogues objects, it makes itself less open to criticism. Visitors are not entirely abandoned to the packing cases: there are rebuilt architectural fragments to explore, bite-sized curated displays and suggested tour routes. Order an Object opened on May 12 and curators are fielding requests from researchers, students, designers, entrepreneurs and people who simply enjoy looking at beautiful things. What, I ask, is the most-requested item to date? 'A Balenciaga gown,' says Director of Collections Kate Parsons. 'We're expecting its visitors may be fashion students, but we won't know until they come.' What I ordered at the V&A Storehouse Designer boots These wet-look knee-length boots were made by the Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto in 1971. This is no ordinary footwear: the boots were part of Yamamoto's 'Kansai in London' collection, which brought Japanese avant-garde design to the UK, wowed Bowie and Elton John and changed the direction of fashion for the new decade. Parsons takes the boots out of their box and allows me to handle them. They are tiny and cut delicately, the heels and calves shaped with precision. Close up, with their three-inch platform soles wrapped in electric-blue satin, their visual impact is much clearer. The boots borrow from ancient Japanese design but they are also futuristic, space-age artefacts. They would still look outrageous today. An ancient Egyptian tapestry This tapestry was hand-woven in Egypt in AD 300-600. Parsons removes its protective sheath and lays it on the table but it is too fragile to touch. At its centre is a woven vignette of a horseman in battle with another figure, surrounded by horned beasts. Around them are faint images of women with children. The legends the fragment depicts are lost to time but up close, its faded images of ancient human struggles and triumphs are extremely moving. A bass viol The V&A has a vast collection of musical instruments, so at random I choose a bass viol, made between 1648 and 1675 by the Oxford-based luthier John Baker, according to an inked label. Again it is too fragile to touch, but I peer closely at its highly polished sycamore body, its four strings knotted by human hands, its finger-worn ebony fret. According to the catalogue, the viol would have formed part of an ensemble of differently pitched viols known as a 'consort'. A Vivienne Westwood couture corset Part of the British designer's 'Cut, Slash and Pull' collection of 1990. I, too, once owned a Westwood corset (albeit from her cheaper ready-to-wear collection, black and gold with painted cherubs cavorting on the bodice), but I lent it to an acquaintance and it was never returned. Now cult items, these corsets sell for thousands of pounds. I'm struck by the ivory silk garment's diminutive size. Though it is labelled a 12, as was mine, it looks as if it would fit an actual 12-year-old. And while the corset is exquisitely cut, it was clearly worn a lot in the hedonistic 1990s – the silk is sweat-stained and its former owner's hairs are still caught in the zip. A transistor radio Arguably a proto-iPhone in that it was an early portable mass-media device. Nearly everyone had one in the 1970s, including me as a child. They sounded terrible, but they represented excitement: a broadcast from the exciting world of pop music right under my pillow. By the 1980s transistors were ousted by Sony Walkmans. I don't think I've seen one in 40 years. The V&A owns a pocket-sized Solid-state transistor manufactured by Sharp in 1970. It's a beautifully simple design, with its wheeled dials and Made in Malaysia label: all give me a Proustian rush. I'm struck by the density of its red casing, heavy and opaque, unlike modern plastics. Most Proustian of all are its vinyl case and wrist strap – perfect for dangling from a bike's handlebars. V&A East Storehouse, 2 Parkes Street, London E20, is open from May 31;
