1. It’s an immersive exhibition
A celebration of resilience, creativity and joy, the exhibition explores how British-born Black music genres – from lovers rock to 2 tone, to jungle to trip hop, grime and beyond – have inspired and influenced lives across the UK and around the world. An evocative sound experience and multimedia installations bring fashion, photography and musical instruments to life.
2. Legendary objects from the history of Black British music are on display
The exhibition is divided into four 'acts' with over 200 objects on display. You’ll be able to see Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, the jacket that rapper and actor Nolay wore during filming the series Top Boy and Jme’s Super Nintendo and Mario Paint game, which he used for his first experiments with music-making in the 1990s. Iconic objects from the history of Black British classical music, including Black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s conducting batons from early 1900s, will also feature.
3. See newly commissioned and iconic artworks
View works from pioneering Black British artists including Dame Sonia Boyce, Tam Joseph, Vicky Lindo and Bill Brookes and Sir Frank Bowling. In the first act, Sokari Douglas Camp’s recent sculpture Red Coats and Flags (2023), traces the links between African musical masquerades, Caribbean carnival traditions and carnival celebrations around Britain.
4. There’s a festival of events across venues
The Music is Black: A British Story will also be amplified through the V&A’s partnership with BBC Music, with BBC archival materials featured in the exhibition and a season of content across BBC channels inspired by the exhibition. The Music is Black Festival, will bring partners from the newly-formed East Bank in Stratford together for a summer festival of performances, events and live performances from the BBC, Sadlers Wells East, UAL’s London College of Fashion, and UCL East.
5. See the newly opened V&A East Museum
As part of your visit to the exhibition, you will experience the newly opened V&A East Museum. In the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the museum was co-created with young people, creatives, and east Londoners and celebrates making and creativity’s power to bring change. You can visit two free permanent galleries, featuring over 500 objects from the V&A’s collection, that foreground global culture. And don't miss a visit to Cafe Jikoni (from the celebrated chefs behind Marylebone's Jikoni restaurant) where a fusion of cuisines from different cultures are on offer alongside coffees, cakes and sandwiches.
