Episode 30 - All human life is here

In this episode, Wendy Earle is joined by Niall Crowley and new team member Michael Owens to discuss the recently opened V&A East Storehouse in Stratford, East London. We visited the building together, and talk about what we see as we go around it … a very enjoyable field trip. The Storehouse, which opened at the end of May 2025, now houses more than 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books, and 1,000 archives from the V&A’s collections, previously stored at Blythe House in Olympia. Located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the new facility is part of the museum’s wider expansion into East London.The building was originally completed in 2011 as the Media and Broadcast Centre for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Its large warehouse-style spaces have since been repurposed to hold the V&A’s collections and to provide new opportunities for access.The discussion also touches on the significance of the Storehouse’s location. Stratford has changed rapidly since the Olympics, with new housing, retail, and cultural spaces, while its longer industrial history - from dockside industries to plastics manufacture and confectionery production - remains visible in the area’s character. Looking ahead, the Storehouse is expected to serve not only as a collections facility but also as a resource for academic research and study, raising questions about how such a space might be used by different audiences in the future.This episode of the Week in Art podcast provides more detail of this facility. And you can go to the V&A website to get details about how to visit it, including ordering items for closer examination. Get full access to Arts First at artsfirst.substack.com/subscribe

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