We’re back! For over 20 years our Friday Late programme has been bringing visitors face-to-face with leading and emerging designers and artists, transforming the museum through an evening of live performance, installations, film, debate and hands-on workshops – all programmed around a theme. We’re now ready to open our doors again to thousands of visitors after hours, creating a space for creativity, self-expression and critical dialogue around contemporary issues.
The first Friday Late of 2022 will take place on Friday 25 March, exploring the world of Pretty Useless Things. Design prides itself on ‘usefulness’ and problem-solving – putting forward innovations in the hope of making the world a better place. This emphasis sidelines aesthetics, decoration, and adornment as secondary, perhaps even unnecessary. And yet, as museum collections can testify, we are enduringly attracted to beautiful things with little purpose. In response to designer Charles Eames’ statement: “whoever said pleasure wasn’t functional”, this Friday Late questions the role of aesthetics in our modern world.
Later in the year we’ll become your dancefloor for April’s Friday Late, taking place on the International Day of Dance during the V&A Performance Festival. In the summer we’ll be celebrating themes explored in the major exhibitions Fashioning Masculinities and Africa Fashion. We’ll also be casting a spotlight on the shared cultures, rituals and histories of India and Pakistan in the July Friday Late, marking 75 years of each country’s independence. In September, Friday Late will once again coincide with London Design Festival in the museum, celebrating leading and emerging designers and asking what role design can play in making society more equitable in an age of climate crisis.
Friday Late is free and drop-in. Find out more about March’s Pretty Useless Things Late.
Keep an eye on the Friday Late webpage and our social channels to hear more, or sign up to our mailing list to never miss a Late!
