V&A East Museum

This Week in London – V&A East Museum opens; ‘Cool Britannia’ at the Barbican; and, Netherlandish drawings…

by exploringlondon
V&A East Museum © Hufton+Crow

• The new V&A East Museum has opened to the public. Located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the new museum’s first exhibition The Music is Black: A British Story, reveals how Black British music has shaped British culture over the last 125 years. Highlights include Stormzy’s iconic 2019 Banksy-designed Glastonbury vest, Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, fashion worn by Seal, Sade and Skin, plus Fabio & Grooverider’s DJ equipment and Grooverider’s first turntable, newly acquired photographs by Eddie Otchere, Jennie Baptiste and Laura ‘Hyperfrank’ Brosnan, and a specially commissioned painting by Sir Frank Bowling. The museum also features two free permanent ‘Why We Make galleries’ which feature more than 500 objects from the V&A’s collection including new artworks by artists including Turner Prize-nominated Rene Matić, Carrie Mae Weems and Tania Bruguera and new acquisitions by designer Yinka Ilori, fashion designer Molly Goddard, photographer Jamie Hawkesworth and ceramicist Bisila Noha, as well as a range of objects from Renaissance portraits and historic scent cases to photographs by Maud Sulter and Shadi Ghadirian, Keith Khan’s carnival costumes, ballet costumes by Leigh Bowery, and fashion by Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. For more, see vam.ac.uk/east.

• A new exhibition marking 30 years of ‘Cool Britannia’ has opened at the Barbican Music Library. 1996: 30 Years On features original costumes worn by the Spice Girls, previously unseen Oasis memorabilia, photography by Jill Furmanovsky and Derek Ridgers, and personal items from record producers and DJs Paul Oakenfold, Dave Pearce and Judge Jules. The exhibition, curated by the former editor of The Sun Dominic Mohan, also features a selection of pencil sketches of bands by Mike Smith who, in his role as a music executive, signed many of the most prominent acts of the era including Blur, Elastica, and Supergrass. The free exhibition runs until 19th September. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/1996-30-years-on.

Portrait of an unknown man © The Trustees of the British Museum

• Some 110 works by artists such as Rogier van der Weyden, Lucas van Leyden, Pieter Bruegel the elder and Hendrick Goltzius feature in a new exhibition at the British Museum. Early Netherlandish drawings, which draws on the museum’s collection of pre-1600s Netherlandish drawings, also includes lesser-known masters, anonymous sheets and workshop copies to provide a rich and comprehensive account of drawing across the region. The display follows a chronological narrative and examines the function of drawings in the workshop and their role in the design and production of paintings, tapestries, painted glass, sculpture and prints while thematic displays highlight new subjects that were introduced during this period, including landscapes, proverbs and a local iteration of the antique style, spurred by contact with Italy. The free exhibition can be seen in Room 90 until 20th September. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/early-netherlandish-drawings.

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This Week in London – Sculpture at the V&A East; ‘Londoners on Trial’; and, Elsa Schiaparelli…

by exploringlondon
Artist Thomas J Price unveiling ‘A Place Beyond’, outside of London’s V&A East Museum ahead of its opening on East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 18th April. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media Assigbments for the V&A

• An 18 foot tall sculpture of a young person, holding a mobile phone and looking towards a horizon “full of possibilities”, has appeared outside the V& East Museum ahead of its public opening next month. A Place Beyond, the work of artist Thomas J Price, has been created from an amalgamation of images, 3D scans and observations and has been constructed in bronze using digital technologies and ancient techniques. Also announced this month have been the artists involved with New Work, the V&A’s new six-monthly rotating creative commissions programme. The artists – who include Turner Prize-nominated artist Rene Matić, Lawrence Lek, Laura Wilson, Tania Bruguera, Es Devlin, Shahed Saleem, Justinien Tribillon and Carrie Mae Weems – have been invited to reflect on east London’s layered histories and creative futures under the theme of Making East London. The works will be displayed across V&A East’s two sites – V&A East Museum and Storehouse – from the museum’s public opening on 18th April. For more, see vam.ac.uk.

• On Now: Londoners on Trial: Crime, Courts and the Public 1244-1924. This free exhibition at The London Archives explores the history of law and order in the city and draws on documents from famous cases involving the likes of 17th century pickpocket Moll Cutpurse, highwayman Dick Turpin, Jack Sheppard, Oscar Wilde, and suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst. runs until 25th February next year. For more, head to www.thelondonarchives.org/visit-us/exhibitions/londoners-on-trial.

• The work and impact of Elsa Schiaparelli, one of the 20th century’s most innovative fashion designers is the subject of a new exhibition at the V&A. Opening on Saturday in the Sainsbury Gallery, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art follows the fashion house’s evolution from its origins through to its present day incarnation under creative director Daniel Roseberry. It features more than 200 objects including garments, accessories, jewellery, paintings, photographs, sculpture, furniture, perfumes and archive materials. Highlights include the V&A’s Skeleton􏰋 dress and the Tear dress as well as a hat shaped to look like an upside-down shoe – all of which were conceived in collaboration with Salvador Dalí. There will also be artworks by Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray on display. Runs until 1st November. Admission charge applies. For more, see vam.ac.uk.

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