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&A, you’ll have had first-hand experience of the collections.  But you may not realise how much of the Learning Department’s work goes on throughout the museum.  If you’ve ever seen a family walking around the galleries with one of our Backpacks, you’ve seen the Learning Department in action.  If you’ve ever attended a lunchtime talk, that’s us too.  We’ve left our mark on many of the V&A’s galleries in the form of hands-on activities for you to enjoy.  And if you’ve ever passed through the Sackler Centre and peered through the glass walls of the Art Studio, wondering what all those people were doing draping fabric on mannequins, you’ve seen one of our practical workshops in full swing.

Now we want to show you how we do it. 

On this blog we’ll be bringing you stories about our current projects, insider information about what it’s like working with cutting-edge artists and practitioners, and an exclusive look at the way we operate.  Stay tuned for stories about how we do what we do best – bring you new ways to enjoy, understand and interact with the V&A’s collections.

Since we all have distinct strengths and serve different audiences, you’ll be hearing from many members of the Learning Department on this blog.  We hope our stories will inspire you to see the V&A’s commitment to its visitors in a new way.