V&A - Victoria & Albert Museum, London

V&A is the abbreviation for one of the most important museums for art and design in the world, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London's Kensington district, England. Once founded in 1852 under the name 'South Kensington Museum', it housed the world's largest collection of British and international decorative arts and design objects. Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, together with art collector and patron Henry Cole, created a place for design and decorative arts in a commercial context. Cole became the first director and when the museum expanded in the 20th century, an entire wing of the building (the Henry Cole Wing) was named after him.

The V&A family of museums

The Victoria & Albert Museum is therefore named after the royal couple Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Over the decades, the V&A's collection grew steadily through the acquisition of study objects and the arrival of donations, so that individual parts of the V&A were relocated and exhibited at other locations. The V&A family of museums now exists. In addition to the main building in the south of London's Kensington district, it includes the so-called 'Young V&A' in Bethnal Green, the V&A East in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, the 'V&A Dundee' in the Scottish city of the same name and finally the 'V&A Wedgwood Collection' in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent.

The power of creativity

As of today, 1,260,058 objects are recorded in the V&A's online database, 136,029 of which are listed under the 'Design' category alone. The V&A Museums also lists the following categories: Paintings, Fashion, Clothing, Fabrics, Ceramics, Prints, Entertainment, Theater. The diversity of the V&A is absolutely unique and the range of art, design and performance museums is second to none. Even though the V&A has been collecting furniture and woodwork, for example, for over 150 years and these exhibits span six centuries of British and international furniture production, engaging with the exhibitions and collections is by no means boring and consists 'just' of looking at them. Visitors are encouraged to actively engage with the various themes, both online and in person, and should become creative themselves in order to feel the power of creativity.

Designers and designs

Boby by Joe Colombo, Toio by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the Calvet Chair by Antoni Gaudí, Artichoke by Poul Henningsen, the AJ lights by Arne Jacobsen, Ettore Sottsass Junior, Studio DDL (Paolo Lomazzi, Donato D'Urbino, Jonathan De Pas) - the list of the V&A's Designer of the V&A is long and the designs and Designer just mentioned are a small selection of those who are represented with their work and through exhibitions at the V&A. Courses, workshops, events for families, panel discussions and a variety of other events bring design and art to life for visitors, awakening and encouraging their own creativity.

Artists and art database

In this way, the Victoria & Albert Museum is certainly not just about conveying impressions of art. The museum is equally active in the field of education. An extensive artist and art database enables people around the world to access it online around the clock, view exhibits and documents and use the diverse resources for their own purposes. These insights into the world of design and art are aimed at everyone, as both professionals and private individuals can benefit from them.

Design classics for the home

Some of the design objects on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum or in the collection are still produced today as licensed editions by various manufacturers and are available from TAGWERC, specialists in design classics.