V&A East Museum Marks Six Months in East London: A Five-Story New Museum with a Free Permanent Display of 500-Plus Objects, Paired with a Storehouse

On April 18, 2026, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) opened a new museum, V&A East Museum, in Stratford, East London. It is located in East Bank, a cultural quarter within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in a five-story building designed by Dublin-based architects O’Donnell + Tuomey. Admission is free, and it has permanent galleries displaying more than 500 objects from the collection as well as a paid opening exhibition. Based on V&A press releases and its official website, this article covers the building and displays, admission, its relationship with V&A East Storehouse, the collection facility that opened in May 2025, and developments since the opening.

V&A East consists of two facilities: the Storehouse, a collection facility, and the Museum, which handles exhibitions and events. The Storehouse occupies part of the building that served as the media and broadcast center for the London 2012 Olympics (now Here East). The Museum’s opening exhibition traces 125 years of Black music in Britain, and visitors move through it listening to more than 120 tracks on headsets. Among exhibitions themed on sound, the immersive “Feel the Sound” exhibition, co-produced with the Barbican in the UK, opens in Takanawa, Tokyo, on November 20 (see our article on the “Feel the Sound” exhibition). Openings and closures of museums in Japan are compiled in our roundup of museum closures and reopenings.

Building and location: A five-story building by O’Donnell + Tuomey

The address is 107 Carpenters Rd, Stratford. According to the official website, the nearest step-free station is Stratford, a 15- to 20-minute walk away. There are two entrances, one on the Lower Ground floor facing Aquatic Walk and one on the Upper Ground floor at podium level on the Stratford Walk side; both are step-free and wheelchair accessible.

The building was designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey and built by MACE. According to the V&A’s announcement at the topping out in December 2021, it has a gross floor area of about 7,000 m² and stands 42.5 m tall. The exterior is clad in faceted, incised precast concrete panels made by Techrete in North Lincolnshire, England, each weighing up to 11 tonnes and measuring up to 11.5 m long. The same announcement said there would be three outdoor terraces overlooking the Olympic Park. An August 2026 V&A announcement says visitors can enjoy city views from the top-floor terrace during Thursday late openings.

East Bank is also home to BBC Music Studios, London College of Fashion (part of University of the Arts London, UAL), Sadler’s Wells East and University College London (UCL). In the opening announcement, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said City Hall had invested more than £600 million in East Bank. The announcement describes East Bank as the biggest investment in London’s culture since the Great Exhibition of 1851, expecting more than 1.5 million visitors a year and a £1.5 billion boost to the London economy. Gus Casely-Hayford, director of V&A East, says the facility was more than a decade in the making.

Permanent displays and commissions: “Why We Make,” with 500-plus objects, and an 18-foot sculpture

“Why We Make,” a free gallery over two floors

The permanent “Why We Make” galleries span two floors and are free to enter. More than 500 objects from the V&A collection are displayed across art, architecture, design, performance and fashion. The display was designed by JA_Projects in collaboration with A Practice for Everyday Life, Larry Achiampong and the V&A East Youth Collective, a group of young people. It is organized around the following 10 themes.

• Our Place in the World

• Breaking Boundaries

• Caring for Ourselves

• Crafting Stories

• Building Creative Communities

• Revealing a World in Flux

• Empowering through Design

• Rethinking Systems

• Reimagining Traditions

• Voicing Dissent

According to a November 2025 announcement, works on display include those by Leigh Bowery, Claude Cahun, Ladi Kwali, Yasmeen Lari, Althea McNish, Jo Spence and Maud Sulter. New acquisitions include works by Yinka Ilori, ceramicist Bisila Noha, and fashion designers VIN + OMI and Molly Goddard. The official website also highlights Vivienne Westwood’s 1990 ensemble “Cut, Slash & Pull,” Ilori’s 2015 armchair “Captain Hook” and Jamie Hawkesworth’s photographs of Preston bus station.

Thomas J Price’s sculpture “A Place Beyond”

In front of the building’s entrance stands “A Place Beyond,” a bronze by sculptor Thomas J Price. Unveiled by the V&A on March 11, 2026, before the opening, it is 18 feet (about 5.5 m) tall, Price’s tallest sculpture according to the V&A. It depicts a fictional young person in everyday clothes holding a mobile phone, gazing toward a horizon full of possibility. It was created by combining images, 3D scans and observation, with input from the V&A East Youth Collective during the process.

“New Work,” commissions that change every six months

The Museum and the Storehouse have also launched “New Work,” a program of commissions that changes every six months. The first theme, “Making East London,” presented new works by eight artists across both sites from April 18 to October 18, 2026: Tania Bruguera, Es Devlin, Lawrence Lek, Rene Matić, Shahed Saleem, Justinien Tribillon, Carrie Mae Weems and Laura Wilson. According to the official website, Tribillon’s work “On the Sly” remains on view at the Museum until Monday, November 9.

From Saturday, November 14, V&A East’s seasonal program “The Stories of Clothes” begins. Supported by Acne Studios, it presents new “New Work” commissions by Alia Ali, East London Textile Arts, R.I.P. Germain and Zadie Xa at the Museum.

Exhibitions: An opening show tracing 125 years of Black music, with the second in April 2027

The opening exhibition, “The Music Is Black: A British Story,” is the museum’s first paid exhibition, running from Saturday, April 18, 2026 to Sunday, January 10, 2027. It traces 125 years of Black music in Britain through more than 200 objects, including 60 new acquisitions. The V&A describes it as the largest exhibition ever on the impact of Black British music on Britain and the world.

The exhibition is structured in four acts: the first on the origins of the music, the second on Britain from 1900 to 1969, the third on Black music born in Britain, and the fourth on Black British music today and in the future. According to the opening announcement, it covers eight genres of Black British music; a January announcement listed genres from lovers rock and Brit-funk to 2 Tone, jungle, drum and bass, trip hop, UK garage and grime. Objects on display include the guitar Joan Armatrading played as a child, the Banksy-designed vest Stormzy wore at Glastonbury Festival in 2019, Grooverider’s first turntables, Winifred Atwell’s piano and the dress Shirley Bassey wore to sing “Goldfinger” at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013.

The curator is Jacqueline Springer, and the lead exhibition designer is Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey. The sound experience is supported by Sennheiser, and the BBC is also a partner on the exhibition.

According to the exhibition page on the official website, tickets cost £22.50 on weekdays and £24.50 at weekends, £11 for under-26s and students, and £10 for Art Fund members. The August and October press releases give prices “from £9.50.” V&A members enter all exhibitions free. Disabled visitors are eligible for concession prices and can add a free ticket for one companion.

The second exhibition is “South Asia Now: Fashion. Art. Design.,” running from Saturday, April 24, 2027 to Sunday, January 23, 2028. According to the V&A’s announcement of its 2027 exhibition program, it will bring together more than 200 works of art, fashion, architecture and design.

Admission and hours: Free entry, closed October 29–30 due to strikes

Admission is free, with charges for some exhibitions and events. The museum is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00, until 22:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays. On Thursday evenings, a free DJ event, “upperground,” is held on the Upper Ground floor from 18:30 to 21:30. After a summer trial, an October 7 announcement extended it until Thursday, December 17. On Thursday, November 12, a special event co-curated with BBC Introducing and BBC 1Xtra replaces the regular session.

On Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30, both the Museum and the Storehouse will be closed. According to a V&A statement, the union has again decided to strike. The V&A says it continues to negotiate through Acas and has met most of the union’s demands. According to the official website, ticket holders for the opening exhibition and the Storehouse’s David Bowie Centre will be contacted by the museum and receive full refunds. The V&A also issued statements about strikes on September 4–5 and 25–26.

Name: V&A East Museum
Opened: April 18, 2026
Hours: Daily 10:00–18:00 (until 22:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays); closed Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30
Address: East Bank, 107 Carpenters Rd, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 2AR (London, UK)
Admission: Free (some exhibitions and events are charged; “The Music Is Black: A British Story” is £22.50 on weekdays, £24.50 at weekends, among other prices)
Architect: O’Donnell + Tuomey
Operator: Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
Official website: https://www.vam.ac.uk/east/museum/visit

Relationship with V&A East Storehouse: Two sites, a storehouse and a museum

The Museum is the sister site of V&A East Storehouse, which opened on May 31, 2025. The Storehouse occupies part of the building that served as the media and broadcast center for the London 2012 Olympics (now Here East). It was designed by New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro with the UK practice Austin-Smith:Lord. With a floor area of 16,000 m² over four levels, it houses more than 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 archives.

At the Storehouse, “Order an Object,” a free service that lets visitors see collection objects up close by appointment, is available seven days a week. On September 13, 2025, the David Bowie Centre opened, housing an archive of more than 90,000 items related to David Bowie. Entry is free but ticketed. Architect Elizabeth Diller describes the Storehouse as neither a warehouse nor a museum, but a hybrid space shared by staff and the public.

According to the official website, the Museum is a short walk from the Storehouse, and both have the same opening hours. The “New Work” commissions are shown across both sites. The V&A’s official website notes that the Storehouse was a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026.

As for visitor numbers, in an April 20, 2026 article announcing the Storehouse’s shortlisting, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer Tim Reeve said more than 500,000 people had visited the Storehouse. Meanwhile, post-opening visitor numbers for the Museum are not given in the announcements published on the V&A press page through October 25. The August and October press releases announcing the Museum’s evening events do not mention visitor numbers either.

Editor’s perspective

The two V&A East sites divide the roles of opening up the collection and drawing people in with exhibitions and events. The Storehouse holds more than 250,000 objects in 16,000 m², and anyone can view individual objects by appointment. The Museum, a building of about 7,000 m² (2021 announcement), shows a selection of more than 500 objects in its permanent display and holds exhibitions and evening events. The Museum opened less than a year after the Storehouse, and a commissions program spanning both sites began at the same time, linking the two facilities from the outset.

Admission combines a free permanent display with paid exhibitions. The exhibition costs £22.50 on weekdays, with £11 for under-26s and students. The museum stays open until 22:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays and continues to hold a free DJ event on Thursday nights. In Japan, there is a move to revise general admission for collection exhibitions at the national museums to ¥1,000 (see our article on the national museums’ admission fee revisions). The V&A’s pricing, with a free permanent display and paid exhibitions, offers a point of comparison with Japan’s system.

Operationally, some points need checking. Since September, the V&A has issued three statements about strikes, and both the Museum and the Storehouse will be closed on October 29–30. Post-opening visitor numbers for the Museum had not been published on the V&A press page as of October 25, so actual performance against the more than 1.5 million annual visitors expected for East Bank as a whole cannot yet be confirmed with official figures. The opening exhibition closes on January 10, 2027, and the second exhibition opens on April 24. Exhibitions at other museums in London are introduced in our guide to exhibitions at museums abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an admission fee?

Admission is free. The opening exhibition “The Music Is Black” is paid: according to the exhibition page on the official website, £22.50 on weekdays, £24.50 at weekends and £11 for under-26s and students. V&A members enter free.

How is it different from V&A East Storehouse?

The Storehouse is a collection facility that opened on May 31, 2025, housing more than 250,000 objects and more, where visitors can see objects up close by appointment. The Museum is a venue for exhibitions and events, with the permanent “Why We Make” galleries and temporary exhibitions. The two are a short walk apart and have the same opening hours.

What should I know if visiting in late October?

On Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30, both the Museum and the Storehouse will be closed due to strikes. Ticket holders for the opening exhibition and the David Bowie Centre will be contacted by the museum and receive full refunds.

*Information as of October 25, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of V&A East Museum (from the V&A official website)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on V&A press releases (December 2021 – October 2026), statements and information on its official website (as of October 25, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team