Aged 16-24 and living in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest? Want to shape your Museums and your East London? Apply now for the next cohort of the V&A East Youth Collective.
Applications open: Friday 16th October 2026 (the link to apply will go live on this page on this day). The deadline for applications is Sunday 1st November 2026 at 11:59pm.
What should a museum and collections space look, feel and sound like for young people in East London?
To explore this, we’re building a team of curious, creative and passionate young people to work with the V&A East team and commissioned practitioners. You will work collaboratively to help make V&A East Museum and V&A Storehouse welcoming, inspiring and relevant spaces for young East Londoners.
If you’ve got ideas, opinions or want to make a difference in your community, we’d love to hear from you.
What will I be doing in the Youth Collective?
Working collaboratively with our comissioned practitioners, you will take part in creative workshops and trips over the eight month programme. You will influence how V&A East welcomes visitors, connects with local communities and reflects the experiences of young people in the area. Expect to meet new people, develop your creative skills and gain valuable insight into careers within the cultural sector.
The programme will expand upon themes identified by the previous Youth Collective cohorts – from identity, memory and belonging – to place, access and decolonisation. To connect this work, we are inviting you to consult on how you think we should be embedding creative wellbeing and care for young audiences in our museum spaces. This will result in the production of a creative output which will be publicly available to our audiences.
The Youth Collective programme will be tailored to project needs, and the interests and themes that emerge throughout the course will continue to shape the direction of the project. We want for this to be a learning exchange between the participants, the practitioners, and the institution – with co-production at the heart.
You will attend 16 evening meetings on Thursdays from 6-8pm, in person in East London, between January – August 2027. Sessions will run every other Thursday.
There will also be occasional weekend activities, trips and days in the museum.
What is V&A East?
V&A East is a dynamic two-part cultural destination in East London, created as a new branch of the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. Our two new museum sites – V&A East Museum, and V&A East Storehouse – are dedicated to celebrate making and create possibilities. Here we strive to support critical and conceptual learning through making. The museum is rooted in East London’s heritage with a focus on voices leading contemporary culture.
What is V&A East Museum?
Based in Stratford, V&A East Museum celebrates making and creativity’s power to bring change. Created with young people and rooted in East London’s heritage, V&A East Museum explores what’s shaping our world with the voices that lead contemporary culture.
What is V&A East Storehouse?
Located near Stratford Waterfront, V&A East Storehouse houses over half a million creative works and collection objects, and is publicly accessible to all. With a series of large collection objects and curated displays, you can expect to be immersed in a rich collection of stories and narratives relevant to any audience.
What will I gain from the programme?
- A fee of £14.80 per hour towards your time (London Living Wage)
- Exposure to leading artists, practitioners, designers and curators
- Develop your collaboration, communication, creative and critical thinking skills
- Special group research trips and creative workshops
- Gain professional skills and work experience as consultants—experts in your local area and advocates for young east Londoners
- Insight and experience in the museum sector – the programme will be rooted in the collections at V&A East and beyond
- Activate your voice in a public forum and learn more about your agency in creative institutions
- After the programme ends, you will become part of the Youth Collective Community – a pool of creatives invited back for adhoc paid consultations and creative workshops
- Youth Collective Community members are also sent a monthly roundup email signposting them to relevant jobs, events and opportunities within the creative arts, heritage and culture sector.
Am I eligible?
We are looking for 12 young people who reflect the diversity of East London and who meet the following criteria:
- 16 – 24 years old
- Committed to attending all sessions
- Live in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest
- Interested in art, design, curation, or museums and/or the development of your local area
Who are we looking for?
- We want to recruit a team of participants with a range of levels of interest in art, design and making, or museums and galleries
- You don’t have to have stepped foot in a museum to be a part of this opportunity – we want to recruit participants with a range of interest in museum spaces. The group will be made up of participants with a casual interest through to those actively pursuing career and education pathways in these areas
- We want for the cohort to be reflective of the social, economic and ethnic diversity of east London
- We are interested in hearing from applicants with an interest in political and current changes effecting East London
(Please note, to receive payment you must have the legal right to work in the UK)
The First Session will be Thursday 14th January 2027 at 6pm at V&A East Storehouse. Please get in touch with any questions: va-east-engagement@vam.ac.uk
How do I apply?
Follow the link to this form to apply: [Link To be provided on Friday 18th October]
Interested in learning more?
Come along to our free event on Sunday 18th October between 1pm and 5pm in V&A Storehouse to learn more. Here you will hear from previous members of the V&A East Youth Engagement programmes and practitioners in the field. Expect to network, make your own risograph prints, watch our short film screenings and listen to panel talks. Find out more here.
We’d love to hear from you if you are keen to make sure young East Londoners are at the heart of what happens next at V&A East.
More information (including details of the practitioners leading the project) will go live on this page on Friday 16th October
