A One-on-One Date With a Museum’s Treasures

Most museums enforce a strict no-touch policy. However, at the V&A East Storehouse in London, visitors can interact with artifacts firsthand. This includes vintage garments, modern design objects, and ancient musical instruments.

Opened a year ago, the Storehouse serves as a repository for the Victoria and Albert Museum, a leading institution for applied and decorative arts in Britain. The V&A needed a space to house over 400,000 items that cannot be displayed at its main location in West London. These items range from artworks and antique furniture to ornate suits of armor.

According to Kate Parsons, the V&A’s director of conservation, collections care, and access, the museum opted for more than a standard storage facility. They wanted to offer visitors “radical access” to their collections.

Visitors at the Storehouse can freely explore items displayed on shelves or use the Order an Object service to schedule personal interactions with specific artifacts. Conservators have evaluated each item to ensure its suitability for handling by the public. For delicate objects, staff either lay them out for close inspection or lead visitors to items that can be safely held.

Images accompanying the article show the V&A East Storehouse in London and a 19th-century bust of an unknown woman from the museum’s applied and decorative arts collection. Also featured is an artwork titled “Virgin and Child with Five Angels,” dated around 1450.