‘With and for children’: Young V&A announces July opening date following three-year transformation – with East London set for ‘major new destination’

View across the museum’s Town Square. Image: Picture Plane / Victoria and Albert Museum

Young V&A will open to the public on Saturday 1 July, it has been announced – marking the end of a huge three-year overhaul for East London’s first ever museum.

The new institution in Bethnal Green, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is being hailed as the “first national museum created with and for children”.

Built with a mission to inspire the next generation, Young V&A is set to showcase the power of creativity by displaying stories of children’s ingenuity alongside 2,000 works from the V&A’s archive.

Research into early years development sees the venue split into three galleries – Play, Design, and Imagine – that will host exhibitions and activities aimed at different age groups.

V&A director Dr 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.

“We are using our stunning collection of art, design and performance to open the nation’s favourite design club for all children and young people.

“In new galleries and exhibitions, from early years spaces to teenage games design rooms, our plan is to foster Britain’s next generation of artists, thinkers, makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.”

Highlights include colourful and tactile landscapes for babies and toddlers, performance and storytelling spaces for early readers and writers, an studio for budding designers, and a game development hub for teenagers.

Emma Thompson reads to pupils who have been involved in creating Young V&A. Photograph: James Watkins / Puffin

Actor and writer Dame Emma Thompson said: “Young V&A 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 under-funding.

“For kids, this will be a space of collective fun, cultural enrichment, and wonder, and it’s designed specifically for them, which makes it incredibly special.”

Alongside Young V&A’s galleries, three workshops dedicated to learning and a reading room on the lower ground floor will support a year-round education programme. These spaces will host sessions ranging from early years activities to curriculum-based lessons for pupils at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. They will also act as a base for after-school and holiday clubs for families.

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said: “Young V&A is an incredibly special museum. As a major new destination for children and young people and their grown-ups, it exists to inspire young people to find their creative superpowers, and as a space for people to come together in Bethnal Green.

“Based in the East End of London, our area is known for its diversity, dynamism, creativity, and extraordinary history. Young V&A will help provide opportunities for children and young people both in my constituency and around the country by creating a fantastic new museum and cultural space for London and the UK.”

The opening date announcement also includes details of the museum’s first major exhibition, Japan: Myths to Manga, which is set to open on 14 October.

The display will take visitors through Japanese history and explore how it has influenced popular culture, technology and design.

It will feature films from the world-renowned Studio Ghibli, sculptures by Keita Miyazaki, lots of Pokémon, and a moving installation of 1,000 cranes – a symbol of remembrance from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

For more information, visit vam.ac.uk/young.