Young V&A to open in summer after £13m development

The museum will have three permanent galleries - Imagine, Play and Design

A museum dedicated to children and young people will reopen this summer after a £13m redevelopment.

Formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, the Young V&A will relaunch on 1 July after being closed for three years.

The site in Bethnal Green in east London, which dates back to 1872, will feature dedicated exhibitions for children up to the age of 14.

The museum hopes to create a space to inspire the next generation of artists, designers and performers.

Director of the V&A Tristram Hunt said: "Children and young people have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic and its aftermath, alongside the dramatic fall in creative education in schools.

"Young V&A is our response: a flagship project investing in creativity with and for young people and their futures."

The museum will have colourful and tactile sensory landscapes and a performance and storytelling stage for young children

The museum will feature a range of of zones that include an open design studio, a games design space for teenagers and an interactive Minecraft installation in the Play zone.

Actor and screenwriter Dame Emma Thompson said: "I'm delighted to know that Young V&A - our first national museum created with and for children - will be opening soon.

"It will make its thrilling and essential contribution to our young people, whose access to arts, culture, and design opportunities, both in school and out, has been so impoverished by decades of underfunding."

The Young V&A will host regular family-friendly exhibitions and a programme of free events throughout the year.

The first exhibition, Japan: Myths to Manga, will open on 14 October and takes viewers on a journey through Japanese history to explore how landscape and folklore have influenced popular culture, technology, and design.

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