V&A museum asks artists to travel through time to tackle Brexit

British artist Onkar Kular has created 4017 Enacted - A Guided Tour Through The V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum is to examine Brexit by asking 12 artists to imagine how we might look back on modern Europe in 2,000 years.

The V&A has commissioned artists from across Europe to make installations for February's Collecting Europe festival.

It comes three months after the V&A's German-born director Martin Roth announced his departure.

He said his decision was partly because "the terms and conditions" of life in Britain were changing after Brexit.

The Collecting Europe festival will take over parts of the London museum from 1-7 February.

'Historical distance'

Angela Kaya, director of the Goethe-Institut London, which is collaborating on the project, said: "For some people, Brexit is an expression and strengthening of British identity, for others it means alienation from their own or adopted country.

"Beyond Brexit, migration and nationalisation tendencies make this a critical moment for us to ask, 'What defines Europe and European identity today? What does Europe mean as an idea?'

"Through Collecting Europe, we want to take visitors on a journey 2,000 years into the future to look back on the world we inhabit. It is only with this historical distance that we can get a clearer sense of what Europe means today."

Acting V&A director Tim Reeve said visitors would encounter "exciting and provocative installations" that will relate to the existing exhibits.

He said: "As major global events continue to unfold, citizens are inevitably questioning what Europe stands for and how they see their place within it.

"The arts have a unique and important role to play in encouraging debate around the big questions of the day.

"Collecting Europe is a responsive and thought-provoking project, tackling these issues through the lens of art and design."