News from the Learning Department

V&A Shakespeare Day with Propeller

by Adrian Deakes, Programme Manager, Theatre and Performance. Those of you who keep a keen eye on theatre reviews will have seen Propeller’s name crop up fairly frequently over the past few years. Directed by Ed Hall, this all-male Shakespeare Company is really making a name for itself by providing really visceral, exciting productions of Shakespeare's work. When they approached me to...
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Richard Burton as Henry V

The Bookbinders Collective - a London Design Festival highlight

by Marisa Smith, Programme Manager, Workshops and Events. On the last Friday of the London Design Festival, we welcomed the Bookbinders Collective, a group of professional bookbinders working at the top of their craft to produce exciting and innovative contemporary bookbindings, book arts and artists' books.  Over 300 people dropped in to meet the group for an inspiring day of workshops...
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Work from the Bookbinders Collective

The V&A's 20 Greatest Treasures

by Jo Banham, Head of Adults, Students and Creative Industries. I expect many of you will know the old story of the Judgment of Paris. Paris is given the unenviable task of deciding who is the most beautiful of three goddesses. There is no easy answer to this problem: whichever goddess he chooses, he inevitably offends the others. I got a small taste of Paris's dilemma when I was recently...
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Chest of drawers by Tejo Remy

London 2012 clay: above and below ground

by Ruth Lloyd, Residency & Display Co-ordinator. 2012 has been quite amazing summer in London, and for me, it’s not only the Olympics that have been inspiring! The V&A Museum Residency Programme has been in full swing. We hosted the Rio Occupation Residency, have just welcomed Costume Design for Film Resident Hayley Nebauer, and have been lucky enough to host world class ceramicist...
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19th century agate clay pot

Diamandini: 120 kilos of sylphlike robot

by Nadia Arbach, Team Leader, Digital Programmes. There's something about the word 'robot' that, despite my understanding of the more sophisticated forms of interactive design, still conjures up images of a metallic, bleeping creature. Diamandini, an interactive robotic artwork currently on show for the London Design Festival and the Digital Design Weekend, couldn't be further...
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Diamandini internal computer

Get behind the scenes with the Learning Department’s new blog

by Nadia Arbach, Team Leader, Digital Programmes. Welcome to the Learning Department blog, where we’ll bring you behind-the-scenes stories about what we do. We’re not a curatorial department.  Our work focuses on people, and our stories revolve around the creative ways we encourage our visitors to engage with the museum’s collections. If you’ve ever visited the V...
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Fashion design workshop in the Art Studio
Digital design workshop
The Learning Department programmes events, activities, courses and projects to inspire creativity in all of our audiences. We also manage gallery interpretation, residency programmes and evaluation.