Press releases 2005

A list of older press releases, retained for reference for journalists.

 

Modernism: Designing a New World 1914–1939

The V&A’s major spring exhibition will be Modernism: Designing a New World. It will be the first in-depth look at the movement which revolutionised the world around us and the way we live, giving us fitted kitchens, our obsession with sunbathing and gyms, and our love of clean, minimalist architecture and design.

Download Modernism: Designing a New World 1914–1939 press release

China Friday Late

The V&A's October Friday Late focuses on contemporary China with live and surprising performances by some of China's most exciting artists, as well as films, installations and discussions. The China Friday Late coincides with Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China  at the V&A, the first UK exhibition of contemporary Chinese photography and video.

Download China Friday Late press release

What’s on at the V&A in October 2005

The V&A opens a major exhibition this autumn on Diane Arbus, the legendary New York photographer whose work captured 1950s and 1960s America and transformed the art of photography. Diane Arbus Revelations is the largest retrospective of her work ever assembled and is the first international Arbus exhibition for over 30 years.

Download What’s On at the V&A in October 2005 press release

What's on at the V&A in September 2005

The V&A will be showing the first major survey of Chinese photography  and video from the past decade, featuring work by a new generation of Chinese photographers and video artists.

Download What's On at the V&A in September 2005 press release

V&A to open Sacred Silver & Stained Glass Gallery

The V&A will open a new Sacred Silver and Stained Glass gallery on 24 November 2005. Some of the finest examples of ecclesiastical metalwork in the country will be on display, from richly decorated medieval reliquaries to simple non-conformist communion vessels. The beautiful stained glass dates from the 12th century to the present day and will present a fascinating survey of the subject.

Download V&A to Open Sacred Silver & Stained Glass Gallery press release

New UK cultural engagement in China

The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) both announce today an unprecedented programme of collaboration with museums across China. Initiatives unveiled by both museums will enable objects from their unparalleled world collections to be seen in China and for masterpieces of Chinese culture to be loaned to the UK. It will also involve curatorial exchanges, skills sharing and joint projects which will benefit the museums and their audiences in both countries.

Download New UK Cultural Engagement in China press release

Import Export

This autumn the V&A and British Council present Import Export an exhibition celebrating international influences in contemporary British design. Import Export explores the careers of fourteen British and foreign-born designers who live and work in the UK. It features designers working across a range of disciplines from fashion designers Clements Ribeiro and Eley Kishimoto, graphic designers and art directors Aboud Sodano, to product designers Tord Boontje and Sebastian Bergne.

Download Import Export press release

Between Past & Future: New Photography & Video from China

The V&A will show the first major survey of Chinese photography and video from the past decade, featuring work by a new generation of Chinese photographers and video artists. With contemporary Chinese art attracting interest around the world, ‘Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China’ is a varied and compelling selection.  Featuring 60 works by 40 artists, the exhibition reflects the energy of younger Chinese artists.

Download Between Past & Future: New Photography & Video from China press release

Diane Arbus Revelations

The V&A will open a major exhibition this autumn on Diane Arbus, the legendary New York photographer whose work captured 1950s and 1960s America and transformed the art of photography. Diane Arbus Revelations is the largest retrospective of her work ever assembled and is the first international Arbus exhibition for over 30 years.

Download Diane Arbus Revelations press release

Treasures of Southeast Asian Art

Highlights from Doris Duke's collection of Thai and Burmese art, one of the world's finest collections, have been acquired by three of the UK's national museums. Items from the collection - a spectacular array of exotic and decorative artefacts assembled by the American heiress during the course of her lifetime - have been donated to the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Library. Selected items will go on display at each institution during May and June.

Download Treasures of Southeast Asian Art press release

HearWear

The results of an innovative project to radically re-think the future of hearing products will be on display at the V&A this summer. The HearWear display features designs and prototypes by some of the UK's best designers, including Ross Lovegrove, Priestman Goode, Industrial Facility and IDEO.

Download HearWear press release

HearWear – The future of hearing

The results of an innovative project to radically re-think the future of hearing products will be on display at the V&A this summer. The HearWear display features designs and prototypes by some of the UK's best designers,  including Ross Lovegrove, Priestman Goode, Industrial Facility and IDEO.  The HearWear display will show how fashionably designed 'hearwear' can be as desirable and accessible as 'eyewear' has become, and will change the way people think about hearing.

Download HearWear – The Future of Hearing press release

What's on in May

The V&A's major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, is the most comprehensive ever UK exhibition on the movement and the first to look at it from a truly international perspective. It will show how Arts and Crafts originated in Britain in the 1880s and became the first British design movement to have widespread influence internationally as the ideas spread to America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.

Download What's On In May press release

Anne Valerie Hash: Fashion In Motion

Anne Valerie Hash is one of France's rising couture stars. Her debut collection was launched in 2001 and already Hash can count Cate Blanchet and Vanessa Paradis among her customers. The V&A will stage four couture catwalk fashion shows on Friday 27th May as part of its Fashion in Motion series.

Download Anne Valerie Hash Fashion In Motion press release

Touch Me

This June the V&A, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust, opens a uniquely touchable contemporary design exhibition, Touch Me, which explores the pleasures and sensations of touch, looking at the designed world around us now and what the future holds.

Download Touch Me press release

What's on at the V&A in June 2005

This June the V&A, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust, opens a uniquely touchable contemporary design exhibition, Touch Me, which explores the pleasures and sensations of touch, looking at the designed world around us now and what the future holds.

Download What's On at the V&A in June 2005 press release

70 years of Penguin Design

The V&A is marking the 70th anniversary of Penguin Books with a display of some 500 of Penguin's iconic book covers. Drawing on material from the Penguin archives that has never been exhibited before, the display will show how Penguin has responded to - and influenced - changing trends in British culture. On view will be classic orange fiction paperbacks, the striking monochrome cover of Ulysses and the menacing design of Anthony Burgess' Clockwork Orange.

Download 70 Years of Penguin Design press release

What's on at the V&A in March 2005

The V&A's major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, will be the most comprehensive ever UK exhibition on the movement and the first to look at it from a truly international perspective. It will show how Arts and Crafts originated in Britain in the 1880s and became the first British design movement to have widespread influence internationally as the ideas spread to America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.

Download What's On at the V&A in March 2005 press release

What's on at the V&A in April 2005

The V&A's major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, will be the most comprehensive ever UK exhibition on the movement and the first to look at it from a truly international perspective. It will show how Arts and Crafts originated in Britain in the 1880s and became the first British design movement to have widespread influence internationally as the ideas spread to America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.

Download What's On at the V&A in April 2005 press release

Art Deco

On 27 March, the Victoria and Albert Museum opens Art Deco 1910-1939, the most comprehensive exhibition ever staged on one of the most glamorous and popular of all artistic styles. The show is the first to explore Art Deco as a global phenomenon affecting cities as far apart as Paris, New York, Bombay and Shanghai.

Download Art Deco press release

The new Julie & Robert Breckman Prints and Drawings gallery

The inaugural display in the Julie and Robert Breckman Prints and Drawings Gallery, will be 'The Spirit of Place: Landscape in British Printmaking'.

Download The New Julie & Robert Breckman Prints and Drawings gallery press release

Rare Portrait Miniatures on display at V&A

The V&A will open a new Portrait Miniatures Gallery on 2 March 2005 with masterpieces by Hans Holbein, the Elizabethans Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver,  Samuel Cooper - who painted  both Cromwell and Charles II - and Richard Cosway, miniature painter to the Prince Regent.

Download Rare Portrait Miniatures On Display At V&A press release

Beauty at the V&A

The V&A has commissioned a special tour this winter, as well as debates and other events, exploring the idea of Beauty through the Museum's unrivalled permanent collections. Acting as a 'guest editor' of the collections, design consultant Stephen Bayley has chosen 25 objects from Canova's 'Sleeping Nymph' to a 1920s Wagenfeld desk lamp, to explore the concept of what people find beautiful and the different ways beauty is expressed. There will also be a special Beauty Week from 24 January, starting with a debate and ending with a Beauty Friday Late View until 10pm.

Download Beauty at the V&A press release

Beauty Week at the V&A

Beauty Week culminates in a glamorous mid-winter Friday Late Masked Ball with dancing, live music, DJs, workshops and an Estée Lauder beauty parlour. From Romeo and Juliet to the Phantom of the Opera masks have been used to hide the face and create a new identity.   Conceal, reveal or enhance your beauty by wearing your own mask to the ball or join the workshops to create your own at this free Friday Late event.

Download Beauty Week at the V&A press release

International Arts and Crafts at the V&A

The V&A's major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, will be the most comprehensive ever UK exhibition on the movement and the first to look at it from a truly international perspective. It will show how Arts and Crafts originated in Britain in the 1880s and became the first British design movement to have widespread influence internationally as the ideas spread to America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.

Download International Arts And Crafts At The V&A press release

Chinese New Year 2005 at the V&A

To welcome the Year of the Rooster the V&A will celebrate  Chinese New Year with a weekend of events on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February. Adults and children can listen to Chinese music and watch a traditional Lion Dance in the Grand Entrance. They can also take part in a  range of demonstrations including jade carving, noodle making, Chinese calligraphy, tea tasting and Chinese Opera face painting.

Download Chinese New Year 2005 At The V&A press release