Imagine a museum where young people walk in and their lives are forever changed. That’s the bold vision behind V&A East, a groundbreaking new cultural hub designed to captivate Gen Z. But here’s where it gets controversial: can a museum truly belong to everyone, especially when it’s historically excluded certain voices? Gus Casely-Hayford, director of V&A East, believes it can—and he’s on a mission to prove it.
As a child, Casely-Hayford felt like an outsider in museums. ‘They weren’t places I felt wholly welcome in,’ he recalls, particularly because they rarely reflected the stories of Black British people like him. But his sister Margaret challenged him: ‘These spaces belong to all of us. You can change what they represent.’ Now, decades later, he’s turning that vision into reality with V&A East, a museum that aims to be a transformative space for young, creative minds.
Located in London’s Olympic Park, V&A East spans two sites: the V&A Storehouse, which opened in May and has already smashed visitor targets, and the V&A East Museum, a five-storey exhibition space designed by O’Donnell & Tuomey. The goal, according to V&A director Tristram Hunt, is to ‘open the V&A’s collection to audiences historically underserved by cultural institutions.’ But this isn’t just about physical space—it’s about reshaping who feels at home in museums.
After years of delays due to the pandemic, labor shortages, and the sheer complexity of the project, the museum will finally open its doors on April 18, 2025. It’s a cornerstone of East Bank, London’s £1.1bn cultural and education quarter, sitting alongside institutions like Sadler’s Wells East and the London College of Fashion. Casely-Hayford describes the funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as ‘very generous,’ but the real investment has been in making V&A East a space that truly belongs to its community.
And this is the part most people miss: Casely-Hayford has spent the past five years personally visiting every secondary school in the four surrounding boroughs, consulting over 30,000 young people to shape everything from the permanent collection to the staff uniforms. The result? A museum that reflects the diversity of its audience, down to the burgundy waistcoats staff wear, which can be customized for self-expression. ‘This is a space that belongs to them,’ he says. ‘These collections belong to all of us.’
So, what will visitors see? The permanent collection, titled Why We Make, explores the universal human impulse to create, featuring 500 objects from over 200 practitioners across 60 nations. Highlights include a ceramic piece by Ecuadorian-Spanish artist Bisila Noah, a pink dress by local designer Molly Goddard, and textiles by postwar Trinidadian designer Althea McNish. The museum will also tackle contemporary issues like representation, identity, and social justice, all through a ‘contemporary lens.’
But it’s the temporary exhibitions that might spark the most debate. The first, The Music Is Black, traces 125 years of Black British music history, from calypso to drill, featuring icons like Seal, Shirley Bassey, Stormzy, and Little Simz. It’s a bold statement about the role of museums in celebrating marginalized cultures. Yet, as Casely-Hayford acknowledges, museums face bigger questions—like the return of looted artifacts. He’s proud of the V&A’s work with Ghana, loaning back objects to the Manhyia Palace Museum, but admits, ‘We’re limited by statute.’
Then there’s the issue of ethical funding. With corporate sponsorship helping to pay for exhibitions, how does V&A East ensure its partners align with its values? Casely-Hayford is cautious: ‘We would want to be deeply scrupulous about any institution or company we engage with.’ But is that enough? What do you think? Should museums refuse funding from companies with questionable practices, even if it means fewer exhibitions?
Casely-Hayford’s journey to this point is as inspiring as the museum itself. A scion of the prominent Ghanaian-British Casely-Hayford family, he’s followed in the footsteps of his trailblazing siblings, including his late brother Joe, a pioneering fashion designer. His career has taken him from presenting BBC’s Lost Kingdoms of Africa to directing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. Yet, he sees V&A East as his greatest project—a chance to make museums truly universal.
‘Museums are repositories of the finest human impulses,’ he says. But can they also be catalysts for change? V&A East is betting on it. Will it succeed? Only time will tell—and the conversation starts now.
