Young V&A

This Week in London – ‘Making Egypt’ at the Young V&A; new memorial to humanitarian aid workers; and, Science Museum’s ‘Exploring Space’ gallery to close soon…

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Wooden Funerary Boat approx. 3000 years old. PICTURE: Courtesy of Chiddingstone Castle

• A new exhibition exploring how stories and images from ancient Egypt continue to influence art, design and popular culture today opens at the Young V&A in Bethnal Green on Saturday. Making Egypt is divided into three sections – Storytelling, Communicating and Making – and features more than 200 objects which, as well as ancient artifacts, include contemporary responses from jewellery and fashion designers, graphic novelists and ceramic artists throughout. Highlights include everything from a 4000-year-old small wooden painted model funerary boat and an amulet of Taweret, goddess of childbirth and fertility, dating from between 664 BC to 332 BC to a rare carved wooden scribe’s palette which was used to hold ink and brushes, and Egyptian faience shabtis dating from between 380 BC to 343 BC which represent just a handful of more than 300 small funerary figures discovered in the tomb of Djedhor. Runs until 2nd November. Admission charge applies. For more, see vam.ac.uk/young.

• A new plaque commemorating humanitarian aid workers has been unveiled in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. Located near the memorial to Florence Nightingale, the plaque “celebrates the bravery of those who dedicate their lives to helping others and remembers those who have been murdered or injured while delivering humanitarian assistance”. Hand-carved by stonemason Martin Gwilliams, the plaque reads: “In celebration of Humanitarian Aid Workers. Helping those in need whoever and wherever they are. And in remembrance of those who have died in the pursuit of their calling.” The plaque is the first in the UK in a public space to honour humanitarian aid workers and their work in conflict zones and disaster-stricken areas around the world. For more, see www.stpauls.co.uk.

• After almost 40 years, the Science Museum’s ‘Exploring Space’ gallery at the South Kensington institution will partially close on 22nd April and fully close in early June as part of preparations for the museum’s new ‘Space’ gallery. Key objects on display include the Soyuz spacecraft that carried astronaut Tim Peake back to Earth, the spacesuit worn by Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, during a 1991 spaceflight and a three-billion-year-old piece of the Moon. Other items include a British Black Arrow rocket and a United States Scout rocket suspended from the gallery’s ceiling, a RL10 rocket engine and a J-2 rocket engine which powered the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

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This Week in London – Exploring Bushy Park’s D-Day history; lost and found umbrellas; and, British comics in the US…

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The Eisenhower Memorial in Bushy Park. PICTURE: Matt Brown (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

• A new digital exhibition revealing the role Bushy Park played in planning D-Day has gone online ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June. The exhibition, which is on the Royal Parks website and coincides with new interpretative material at the park itself, features previously unseen archive images of Camp Griffiss which once housed more than 3,000 service personnel. For more, see www.royalparks.org.uk/read-watch-listen/operation-bushy-park-plotting-d-day-royal-park

• Umbrellas lost on London’s trains, Tubes and buses have been transformed into
yōkai – a class of supernatural beings and entities that abound in Japanese folklore, literature, art and popular culture – in a new installation at the Young V&A. Lost and Found Yōkai, which features the sounds of supernatural Japan, celebrates Young V&A’s current exhibition, Japan: Myths to Manga and takes visitors on a journey through “Kasa-obake Alley”, where the umbrellas once lost, now dance with life. The installation can be experienced until 1st December which Myths to Manga runs until 8th September. For more, see vam.ac.uk/young.

• On Now: HEROES: The British invasion of American comics. This exhibition at how early American comics such as Buster Brown, Miss Fury and Superman influenced British artists and culture, and then explores how subsequent British comic creations, such as Watchmen and V For Vendetta, were then exported to the US. Highlights include British imitations of American comic strips dating from the 1940s; an exploration of the story behind the 1972 launch of Marvel UK; see rarely-seen full-colour early American comic newspaper pages by RF Outcault, Harold Foster and Alex Raymond; and artwork by key figures from the history of British and American comics, including works by Jack Kirby, Jack Davis and Tarpe Mills. Runs until 19th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.cartoonmuseum.org.

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This Week in London – How Jewish Londoners shaped global fashion; the influence of Japanese folklore on art and design; and, Claudia Jones honoured…

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• An iconic red coat worn by Princess Diana when she announced she was pregnant with Prince William is going on show in a new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands at West India Quay. Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners shaped global style – the first major exhibition in two decades centred on the museum’s extensive dress and textile collection – tells the story of Jewish designers, makers and retailers responsible for some of the most recognisable looks of the 20th century. As well as the David Sassoon-designed coat, it also features a newly acquired Alexon tweed coat worn by EastEnders character Dot Cotton, hats relating to the ‘milliner millionaire’, Otto Lucas, who changed the global reputation of British fashion in the mid-20th century, and garments designed by Mr Fish, a leading figure of the Peacock Revolution whose flamboyant menswear was worn by stars including Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Muhammad Ali. The fashion items are joined by personal items from some of the 200,000 Jewish people who arrived in Britain between the late 19th and mid 20th century, such as a small travelling case used by a child arriving in London as part of the Kindertransport (the rescue effort of children from Nazi-controlled territory in 1938-1939), and a leather bag owned by a woman who fled from Vienna in 1938. Opens on Friday and runs until 14th April next year. Admission charges apply. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whats-on/exhibitions/fashion-city

Sakar International, Inc, Hello Kitty rice-cooker, 2014, Japan © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

• Drawing on everything from Hokusai to Pokémon and Studio Ghibli, the influence of Japanese folklore on Japan’s art and design is the subject of the first exhibition at the new Young V&A. Japan: Myths to Manga is divided into four sections – Sky, Sea, Forest, and City – and features more than 150 historic and contemporary objects along with hands-on activities for visitors of all ages ranging from manga-making to Taiko drumming and yōkai interactive. Highlights in the display include works by celebrated 19th century Japanese artists, such as Hokusai’s Great Wave (1831), Sylvanian families matched with historic netsuke (small sculptures), a stage model for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of My Neighbour Totoro, and a Hello Kitty rice cooker from 2014. An installation of 1,000 paper cranes, a symbol of remembrance from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan, will also be present. The display, which opens at the Bethnal Green premises on Saturday, runs until 11th August next year. Admission charges apply. A series of events linked to the exhibition are also being run. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/japan-myths-to-manga.

• Anti-racism activist and a ‘founding spirit’ of the Notting Hill Carnival, Claudia Jones, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque in Vauxhall. The plaque marks the mid-19th century terraced house that was her home for almost four years during which she founded the West Indian Gazette and came up with the idea of bringing Caribbean carnival to London (the first carnival took place in  It was during her time living in this shared dwelling that Jones founded the West Indian Gazette and came up with the idea of bringing Caribbean carnival to London (the first carnival took place in St Pancras Town Hall on 30th January, 1959; the Notting Hill Carnival, an outdoor event, came later). For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

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This Week in London – Young V&A opens its doors; contemporary African photography; and, Yehudi Menuhin honoured…

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The Young V&A’s Town Square PICTURE: © Luke Hayes courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

• The new Young V&A in Bethnal Green has opened its doors and a free summer festival takes place this weekend. Designed with and for children aged up to 14-year-olds, the Young V&A features more than 2,000 objects, dating from 2,300 BC to today, found across three galleries – ‘Play’, ‘Imagine’ and ‘Design’. The ‘Play’ gallery includes a ‘Mini Museum’ as well as a construction zone called Imagination Playground in which children can build dens, The Arcade in which they can explore Minecraft worlds and Adventure in which they can create stories inspired by objects on show. The ‘Imagine’ gallery features a new performance space, portraits of local children and luminaries such as Quentin Blake, Kenneth Branagh and Linda McCartney, while ‘Design’ showcases innovative objects and case studies that explore how things are designed, made and used, and the ways in which design can change the world. Among the objects on show at the museum is everything from a life-size Joey the War Horse puppet to a Microline car suspended from the ceiling, Harry Potter’s Nimbus 2000 broomstick, Christopher Reeve’s original Superman costume and a large-scale installation of doll’s houses – Place (Village) – by Rachel Whiteread. Meanwhile, the free Summer Festival, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, invites visitors to explore the museum as well as join in free and creative activities and see performances from young talent including Britain’s Got Talent finalists IMD Legion, the east London-based Grand Union Orchestra, and hula-hoop performance group Marawa’s Majorettes. There’s also the chance help create a large-scale art installation with Leap then Look. For more see vam.ac.uk/young.

‘The Place (Village)’ installation in Imagine Gallery at the Young V&A PICTURE: © David Parry, courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Aïda Muluneh, ‘Star Shine Moon Glow, Water Life’, 2018 Photograph, inkjet print on paper; 800 x 800mm Commissioned by WaterAid. ©  Aïda Mulune

• A major new exhibition celebrating contemporary African photography has opened at the Tate Modern. Featuring works by 36 artists, A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography is spread across seven thematic sections and highlights contemporary perspectives on cultural heritage, spirituality, urbanisation and climate change. As well as illuminating alternative visions of Africa’s many histories, cultures and identities, the display also explores the rise of studio photography across the continent during the 1950s and 1960s – a time when many African nations gained independence – before moving on to document the expansion and transformation of cities today as well as exploring themes of migration and climate activism. Runs until 14th January, 2024. Admission charge applies. For more, see tate.org.uk.

• Celebrated 20th century violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former home in Belgravia. The six-storey house at 65 Chester Square, built by Thomas Cubitt in 1838, was where Menuhin lived and worked for the last 16 years of his life. The lower-ground floor vaults provided space for his collection of violins while an open space on the fourth floor served as his studio, a place which hosted much of his teaching and mentoring and where he also practiced yoga – including his famous headstand.

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A Moment in London’s History – The opening of the Bethnal Green Museum…

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This month marks 150 years since the opening of the Bethnal Green Museum, the first public museum located in London’s east.

The museum had at its core a pre-fabricated building which had earlier been erected as part of the first phase of the South Kensington Museum. It was brought to the Bethnal Green site and encased in a red brick exterior designed by James Wild.

Black and white print of the Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at the official opening of the Bethnal Green Museum (now Young V&A) on 24th June, 1872. Originally printed in the London Illustrated News. PICTURE: Courtesy of Young V&A

Formally known as the East London Museum of Science and Art, it was opened on 24th June, 1872, by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, amid considerable pomp and great crowds.

The museum, a branch of what became the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, was built to house and display many of the collections which had been exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Among the art collections on show was that of Sir Richard Wallace (now housed in the Wallace Museum).

An interior view of the Bethnal Green Museum (now Young V&A). PICTURE: Courtesy of Young V&A.

After World War II, the museum was remodelled as an art museum and included a children’s section. Then, in 1974, the museum became the Museum of Childhood with displays focusing on everything from toys and dolls houses to children’s dress and books.

It underwent an extensive renovation in the mid 2000s and reopened in December, 2006, as the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood.

The now Grade II*-listed museum, located on Cambridge Heath Road, is currently undergoing a £13 million redevelopment and will reopen in mid-2023 as Young V&A, a new museum dedicated to 0 to 14-year-olds, their families and carers.

The V&A marked a year to the opening of the new museum with the launch of a year-long Reinvent Festival, “celebrating 150 years with 150 waysto be creative”. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/young-va-reinvent-festival-reinventing-a-museum-for-the-young.

This Week in London – Young V&A marks 150 years; West End LIVE; and, Hackney’s Ayah’s Home commemorated…

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Young V&A creative Story Telling session. PICTURE: Courtesy of Young V&A

• The V&A is celebrating 150 years since the opening of the Bethnal Green Museum (now known as the Young V&A) with the launch of a year long celebration on Friday. The museum, which opened in 1872 as the first ever museum in east London, is currently undergoing a major redevelopment and is scheduled to reopen in summer, 2023, as a new national museum dedicated to children to the age of 14. To mark the 150th – and a year until Young V&A’s opening – the museum has launched a year-long ‘Reinvent Festival’ with the first event – an online summit called Sparking Creative Futures headlined by children’s author, Ed Vere, and live-illustrated by Beano’s youngest ever artist, Zoom Rockman – on Friday. On Sunday, Young V&A will celebrate its birthday with families at Rich Mix’s ‘Everyone a Maker’ event with free, fun activities. Further events will be held over the year including pop ups at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Great Get Together on 23rd July featuring large-scale, creative construction and making sessions for children and families using playful building materials by Hackney-based architect Emilie Quene. For more (including the full programme of events), see www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/reinvent-festival-young-va-summer-family-events.

• Europe’s biggest free musical theatre festival – West End LIVE – will transform Trafalgar Square into an open-air theatre this weekend. A joint production by Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre, the event will feature hundreds of performers, creatives and production staff, showcasing the best the West End has to offer. No tickets are required for the free event. For more, head to www.westendlive.co.uk.

• An English Heritage Blue Plaque has been unveiled on a house in Hackney, commemorating the hundreds of stranded and sometimes abandoned South and East Asian nannies, known as ayahs, who sheltered there in the early 20th century. The Ayah’s Home at 26 King Edward’s Road housed around 100 women a year between 1900 and 1921 after which the home moved to another address nearby. The ayahs were women who served the British in India and other colonies as children’s nannies, nursemaids and ladies’ maids and who were sometimes required to care for babies, children and their sea-sick mothers on the long sea voyage from the colonies to England but who were generally not expected to serve the families once they arrived, instead either contracted to wait until needed for the return journey or take a passage home. The Hackney shelter, which also welcomed ‘amahs’ – nursemaids of East Asian origin, appears to have been the only one of its kind in Britain for almost the whole of its existence. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

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This Week in London – Beryl Gilroy at the British Library; Milligan statue acquired; and, ‘Play in the Pandemic’…

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Beryl Gilroy © The Estate of Beryl Gilroy

• The archive of writer, teacher and ethno-psychotherapist Beryl Gilroy has been acquired by the British Library. Highlights from the archive, which includes working drafts for published and unpublished novels, letters with publishers and literary agents and ‘born-digital’ material, is at the centre of the free Celebrating Beryl Gilroy display which opened in the Treasures Gallery earlier this month. Gilroy, who was born in Guyana (then British Guiana) and who immigrated to Britain in 1952, became the first black head teacher in London in 1969 and wrote a number of acclaimed children’s books to better reflect the lives of her pupils. Her works – which explore the lives of families, particularly of women and children, the impact of 20th century migration and societal change that came as a result – also included number of novels, a collection of poems, non-fiction writing and a 1976 memoir, Black Teacher. The free display can be seen until 26th June. For more, see www.bl.uk.

• A controversial bronze statue of merchant and slave trader Robert Milligan which formerly stood on West India Quay outside the Museum of London Docklands is joining the museum’s collection. The statue was removed in June, 2020, following a petition signed by over 4,000 people called for it to be removed from public view. Its acquisition by the museum follows a public consultation conducted in partnership with the Tower Hamlets Council and landowners Canal & River Trust, which concluded that the statue should be housed in a museum where it can be fully contextualised. “Over the last 15 years, the museum has been working with academics, community leaders and activists to tell the story of London’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and give voice to its legacy,” said a museum spokesman. “The West India Docks, championed by Milligan using wealth from the slave trade, are a visible reminder of how this history has shaped our city. It is right and important that we acknowledge this in the statue’s story. We will now take time to consult with the local community to decide how best to take this forward as part of our collection.” The statue will be held in storage whilst the museum consults further with local communities about how best to present it.

TY® Toy Collection with IV drips, masks and in hospital This eight-year-old child’s toy collection reflected many real-life pandemic experiences, such as wearing masks, getting vaccinated and hospital treatments.Submitted by Fei Victor Lim 2020-21, Singapore © The Play Observatory. PICTURE: Play In The Pandemic, curated by Young V&A, from 23 March 2022, playinthepandemic.play-observatory.com

• The impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on children’s play is the subject of an online exhibition launched by Young V&A and its partners UCL and the University of Sheffield this week. Play In The Pandemic features some of the 100 submissions sent in from around the globe in answer to a call-out from The Play Observatory research project for people to submit their experiences of play – everything from music videos to children’s artworks and films made by parents showing their children splashing in puddles – alongside objects from the Young V&A’s collection. The exhibition, which takes the form of an unfolding origami house, also features a series of activities – ranging from how to make your own origami house to creating dens and window boxes for people to get involved. Head to the Play Observatory website.

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This Week in London – Japan at Kew; Young V&A; a Blue Plaque for Diana’s flat; and, a new Lord Mayor of London…

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• Visitors to Kew Gardens are being invited to immerse themselves in the art, plants and culture of Japan in a month long celebration of the Asian nation. The Japan Festival kicks off this Saturday in Kew’s Temperate House and features at its heart a large-scale artistic installation by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota entitled One Thousand Springs which is constructed of 5,000 haikus submitted by members of the public. There will also be a specially commissioned Chalk Garden – a contemporary response to a Japanese garden showcasing native plants including grasses, shrubs and trees – as well as a display showcasing six different chrysanthemums, Japan’s national flower, and an immersive soundscape by sound artist Yosi Horikawa featuring the natural sounds of the rivers and waterfalls of Kagoshima, atmospheric soundscapes from the Cedar mountains of Gifu and bird calls set across the waves of the Philippine Sea. The Temperate House will also be illuminated for Japan: After hours featuring a varied programme of dance, theatre, and live music performances as well as traditional flower arranging and sake sipping. The festival, supported by Daikin UK, runs to 31st October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.

Sky Brown from Great Britain during women’s park skateboard at the Olympics at Ariake Urban Park, Tokyo, Japan on August 4, 2021. PICTURE: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

• Thirteen-year-old Olympian Sky Brown’s skateboard, children’s garments created by sustainable fashion designer, humanitarian and artist Bethany Williams, and Open Bionics’ 3D printed prosthetic, The Hero Arm, are among new acquisitions to be displayed at what was the former V&A Museum of Childhood. Now renamed the Young V&A, the Grade II* Bethnal Green institution is undergoing a £13m transformation ahead of reopening in 2023. The new interior fit-out, by firm AOC Architecture, will include three new galleries –  Play, Imagine and Design – as well as interactive collection displays, a suite of dedicated learning workshops, an in-gallery design studio for visitors, and a new café and shop.

• The late Princess Diana has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at her former flat in Kensington. Flat 60, Coleherne Court, Old Brompton Road, was her home between 1979 and 1981 during her courtship with Prince Charles. She shared it with three friends including Virginia Clarke who was at the unveiling ceremony this week. Diana, who died aged 36 in a Paris car crash in 1997, described her years at the property as “the happiest time of her life”, according to biographer Andrew Morton’s book Diana, In Her Own Words.

• Vincent Keaveny was this week elected as the 693rd Lord Mayor of the City of London. Alderman Keaveny succeeds Lord Mayor William Russell, who served a second year in office after his term was extended to ensure continuity of leadership during the current COVID-19 pandemic (the last time a Lord Mayor served a second year in office was in 1861 when William Cubitt was re-elected). The annual Lord Mayor’s Show is scheduled for Saturday, 13th November, and will be followed by Lord Mayor’s Banquet at Guildhall on 15th November.

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