V&A East Museum

V&A East brings together two free cultural destinations — the newly opened V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum at the Stratford Waterfront, which is set to open on 18 April 2026. Both are located in London’s East Bank, the UK’s newest cultural quarter in the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and created in partnership with young people and inspired by East London’s creative heritage.

After more than a decade in the making, the V&A East Museum opens in its striking O’Donnell + Tuomey-designed building. Celebrating making and creativity’s power to elicit social change, the museum features “Why We Make” galleries, which display 500 objects drawn from the V&A’s collection to reflect contemporary culture. Organized around 10 key themes and spread across two floors, these highlights include Claude Cahun’s photomontage illustrations, Leigh Bowery and Mr Pearl’s ballet costumes and Molly Goddard’s “Daria” dress, shown alongside historic pieces ranging from Italian Renaissance paintings to 19th-century coral jewellery from India and Tibet. The inaugural exhibition, “The Music Is Black: A British Story,” explores how Black British music — lovers rock and Brit funk, to 2 tone, jungle, drum & bass, trip hop, UK garage and grime — has shaped both British and global culture. Showcasing the stories of both early legends and contemporary artists, the exhibition is a multisensory experience, with sound installations among the more than 200 objects on view, from groundbreaking musician Winifred Atwell’s piano to iconic fashion worn by Dame Shirley Bassey and others.

^{V&A East Museum on East Bank, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. © Lewis Vorn for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; rendering showing the “Crafting Stories” section inside V&A East Museum’s “Why We Make Galleries.” © JA_Projects for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London}