V&A East opens as ‘civic space’ for creativity and community

A vast new branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum opened in London’s Olympic Park on 18 April, positioning itself as both a cultural heavyweight and a community hub. V&A East Museum will offer free, permanent galleries alongside major temporary exhibitions, with local young people helping to shape its vision and design.

The new space joins sister venue V&A East Storehouse, which opened in May 2025. Across two sites, V&A East is one of the UK’s most ambitious new museum ventures of the last decade. Both sites are based on East Bank, a vibrant new cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, created as part of the Mayor of London’s 2012 Olympic legacy.

The opening was first marked by an exclusive viewing of the museum, followed by a star-studded launch event to celebrate its landmark exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story. Artists in attendance included AJ Tracey, Beverley Knight and MNEK. Performances and DJ sets formed part of the celebrations, reflecting the institution’s emphasis on living culture and creative exchange.

The inaugural exhibition charts more than a century of Black British music and its influence in the UK and beyond. Bringing together more than 200 objects — including instruments, fashion, photographs and personal belongings of famous artists — the multi-sensory exhibition spans genres from lovers rock and Brit funk to grime and UK garage, highlighting both pioneering figures and contemporary artists.

Displays range from the piano of early star Winifred Atwell to fashion worn by artists such as Little Simz and archival material from Skepta and girl band Mis-Teeq. Developed in collaboration with BBC Music, the exhibition forms part of a wider programme of performances and broadcasts celebrating Black British music across 2026.

Alongside this, at the heart of the museum’s permanent galleries is Why We Make, a new display exploring contemporary global culture through objects selected from the V&A’s extensive collections. Developed in close partnership with V&A East’s Youth Collective, the galleries examine the motivations behind creative work across time and geography.

“Those range from voicing dissent to building creative communities to rethinking systems,” said Why We Make curator Chloe Kellow. “We want this space to be full of lots of different voices and lots of different answers to that question of why we make and who a maker can be.”

It’s not just a museum, but a civic space for dialogue, discovery and shared experience

Kellow said east London’s layered history made it a natural home for the V&A’s five-storey expansion. “East London has such a rich history of industry, and making of all types – whatever that word might mean to people,” she said. “Some of the first experiments in plastics happened here at Hackney Wick, you had silk weaving at Spitalfelds.

“Today, it’s a hub for the latest fashion, and for designers rethinking use of materials for a climate-resilient future.” Works by the late Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery will sit alongside Italian Renaissance paintings and 19th-century coral jewellery from India and Tibet.

New acquisitions include pieces by artist and designer Yinka Ilori, an outfit from Lazy Oaf ’s recent collaboration with creative King Owusu, and photographs taken at Preston bus station by British documentary photographer Jamie Hawkesworth.

Members of the Youth Collective influenced gallery layouts, materials and lighting, drawing inspiration from London’s high streets, said Kellow. They also helped select and interview local artists whose work features in the opening displays. “Our design is driven by the idea of openness – a building that welcomes its community, celebrates creativity, and frames the exchange between art, people and place,” added V&A East project director, Jen McLachlan. “It’s not just a museum, but a civic space for dialogue, discovery and shared experience.

Main image: V&A East Museum © Lewis Vorn