The V&A East Storehouse in London offers a unique opportunity for visitors. Unlike most museums where touching objects is forbidden, this storehouse encourages hands-on interaction with artifacts.
Daily, visitors at the V&A East Storehouse can handle various items, including vintage clothing, modern design pieces, and ancient musical instruments. This facility opened a year ago as a repository for the extensive collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prominent British institution for applied and decorative arts. With over 400,000 items, including artworks, antique furniture, and ornate armor, the V&A needed a storage solution beyond their primary West London location.
Instead of a standard storage building, the V&A chose to create a space enabling ‘radical access’ to its extensive collections, according to Kate Parsons, the museum’s director of conservation, collections care, and access. The Storehouse allows visitors to explore shelves brimming with items or use the ‘Order an Object’ service to arrange personal encounters with specific artifacts.
Every artifact has undergone assessment by conservators to ensure it is safe for handling. If an item is too fragile, professionals will either assist in displaying it for close examination or redirect visitors to more suitable objects.
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