The Young V&A is a museum wholly dedicated to children in East London’s Cambridge Heath area (just across the road from Bethnal Green underground station). It is one of five sites throughout London in the larger V&A family, and recently underwent a £13 million redevelopment that saw its focus shift from being a museum of childhood to a museum for children, designed and curated to be “the most joyful museum in the world” (www.museumsassociation.org/). This redevelopment is obviously appreciated - in July The Young V&A was named as the Art Fund Museum of the Year; it won £120,000, and has funnelled all of that money into its early-years community programme to develop cultural and playful learning experiences.
From hands-on workshops and interactive installations to storytelling sessions and family-friendly tours, the Young V&A Museum fosters a love for art and design in children from a young age across its three permanent gallery spaces (Play, Imagine and Design). The museum's collection encompasses almost 2000 toys, artefacts and objects, and young visitors are encouraged to express themselves creatively and engage with art in meaningful ways, whether exploring the colourful world of fashion and textiles, experimenting with digital design tools, or marvelling at the intricate craftsmanship of historical artefacts. Every month the museum hosts a Create! Studio workshop for families (with a different theme each month), hosted by a member of staff and designed to invite families to get creative together by exploring different materials and playing and making together.
Make sure you catch the current occupant of the museums temporary exhibition space before it leaves on September 8th. Japan: Myths to Manga is a brilliantly atmopheric exhibition that takes a fascinating look at how Japan’s landscape and folklore has influenced the unique art, science and technology we see coming from the small but mightily influential country today.