LONDON.- Over five years in the making, the move of V&A collections from Blythe House to V&A East Storehouse, a 16,000m2 purpose-built home and first of its kind in the UK to provide open public access to collections through self-guided tours and changing displays, is now complete. The move, which is the V&A’s largest since World War II, has seen over 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books and 1,000 archives audited, condition checked, carefully packed, documented, electronically tracked, and safely transported to their new home in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, which opens in 2025.
Objects and archives moved as part of this landmark project span the breath of V&A’s collections, encompassing every creative discipline from around the globe, from haute couture, historic and contemporary fashion, streetwear, furniture, textiles, tapestries and musical instruments, to theatre costumes, scripts, gig posters, helmets and armour, ceramics, stained glass, cameras, paintings, prints, tiles, photography, drawings, books, comics and more.
The move led by Head of Collections Move Programme, Philippa Mackenzie, and overseen by Kate Parsons, Director of Collections Care and Access, marks a monumental step in V&A East Storehouse’s journey to bring the public and V&A’s expansive national collections closer together. From a striped mohair jumper designed by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in punk’s heyday in 1976, to the denim hotpants and waistcoat worn by PJ Harvey when photographed by Mary McCartney, and everyday collecting moments, including posters, band tees, shoes and mugs, V&A East Storehouse will spotlight both seminal and personal collecting stories, and open itself up as a sourcebook of inspiration for everyone.
Final objects moving into the space included the largest works in a series of 127 paintings made between 1872 – 1885, documenting cave paintings at Ajanta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra, India. The paintings capture the oldest surviving examples of painting in India, dating from the 1st century BC to about AD 480, which depict stories from the lives of the Buddha (the Jatakas) across 30 caves. The paintings’ move to V&A East Storehouse’s vast stores ensure more people can access these incredible works which was previously restricted due to their large size. Three life-sized fibre-glass panda sculptures, an icon of one of the most popular streetwear brands in China, Hi Panda, by artist Jiji, inspired by the rebellious and playful spirit of China's post-1980s generation, were also amongst the last objects to move.
Tim Reeve, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the V&A, says: “The completion of this monumental move, which has been years in the planning, marshalling expertise from across the V&A, represents a huge milestone in our mission to radically transform access and remove barriers between the public and their national collections. V&A East Storehouse offers a unique opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in the magical behind-the-scenes world of a working museum store, through a self-guided public network intertwined with the world’s greatest collection of art design and performance. We are particularly excited to be bringing the collections and archives to communities across the four Olympic boroughs, in a part of London with a rich creative heritage and great contemporary creative potential, for a new audience to discover a radically different type of museum experience when Storehouse opens in 2025.”
V&A East Storehouse is one of two new V&A East sites opening in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Offering a unique museum experience, V&A East Storehouse will invite visitors behind the scenes to wander amongst half a million creative works, spanning every era, discipline, and corner of the globe, with unprecedented access. The 16,000 sqm purpose-built space is designed by leading New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro with support from UK based architects Austin-Smith:Lord.
Bringing together a host of changing displays, some literally ‘hacked’ into the sides and ends of collection stores, performance spaces and creative studios, research and reading rooms, plus an ever-changing programme of events and workshops, V&A East Storehouse will explore why objects are collected, how they are cared for, conserved and displayed and will reveal the latest research emerging from the collections. It will also experiment with new flexible forms of object display and co-production projects highlighting a multitude of different narratives and perspectives.
Objects, Collections and Archives moved into V&A East Storehouse include:
• Archives of creative luminaries including PJ Harvey, Eduardo Paolozzi [including The Krazy Kat Arkive of Twentieth Century Popular Culture - around 20,000 toys, puzzles, comic books and ephemera], Talawa Theatre Company, Biba and Glastonbury Festival
• Large objects including the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside of the US – his 1930s office for American businessman, Edgar J. Kaufmann, an exquisite 15th century carved and gilded wooden ceiling from the now lost Torrijos Palace near Toledo in Spain, and a full-scale ‘Frankfurt Kitchen’ designed by the Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, originally installed in flats in Frankfurt during the 1920s, and rarely on public display
• Nearly 65,000 objects across V&A’s Asia Collection, from an Egyptian tapestry dating back to 4th-5th century and Persian Resht embroidered hanging textiles, to 20th century Japanese kimonos, and 19th century stringed instruments from across India
• 3,500 shoes from a pair of 19th century Egyptian bath clogs to Nike Magista Obra football boots and 1950s Christian Dior evening shoes, to everyday design classics such as Dr. Martens
• 6,271 drawers containing clothing, textiles and accessories, and 5,476 pieces of hanging dress, ranging from trailblazing designers Vivienne Westwood, Bruce Oldfield, JW Anderson, Issey Miyake and Elsa Schiaparelli, anarchic 1990s London label Jimmy Jumble and streetwear giants Stüssy, to 1700s Spitalfields silk dresses and textile samples
• 1,500 chairs, from a velvet chair commissioned by Sir Robert Walpole, England’s first prime minister, to champions of modern design Charles and Ray Eames, Robin Day, Kaare Klint and Vico Magistretti
• Objects from across V&A’s Theatre & Performance Archives including: 1920s costumes designed by artist Henri Matisse for Ballets Russes’ production of Le Chant du rossignol; set design and costume sketches by artist and film-maker Derek Jarman for the opera Don Giovanni at Sadler’s Wells, 1968; an ornate headdress worn by actress Vivien Leigh in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Old Vic, 1937; The Beatles shift dresses made for the premiere of A Hard Day’s Night, 1964
• Pull out racks holding photography, posters, prints, textiles, from 1,600 paintings spanning 2,000 years, including fragments of Roman fresco, to posters by David Hockney and Jamie Reid
• 80,000 children’s books as part of The Renier Collection including a 1585 edition of Aesop’s Fables complete with woodcuts, published in Paris
• 2,540 large 20th century printed textiles stored on 1.5m wide rollers, featuring furnishing fabrics with designs by Lucienne Day, Terence Conran, Althea McNish and Salvador Dali
Development of new storage solutions:
A move of this scale has created opportunities to develop new and innovative approaches to object storage, which prioritise protection and long-term conservation alongside enhanced viewing and handling capabilities.
Examples range from bespoke shoes trays, designed in a way that is versatile to hold a range of footwear, from ancient Egyptian shoes to 1950s Christian Dior heels, allowing each shoe to be moved, viewed fully and handled without touching the shoes themselves. For V&A’s collection of over 1250 pieces of Japanese netsuke, custom-cut sheets of foam were created, with each netsuke nested in tissue paper, which immobilised and protected the objects for safe transportation, storage and future viewing.
