Agents of Encounter

When objects begin to act back

+44 (0)20 7942 2000
  • Friday, 23 January 2026

  • V&A East Storehouse

    Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick, London, E20 3AX
  • Free event

Agents of Encounter photo
Step in and let the Storehouse lead you somewhere unexpected. Agents of Encounter invites you to wander between a series of intimate installations and live moments unfolding across the galleries, created by first-year BSc Architecture students from The Bartlett School of Architecture.

Developed through close study of the stored collection, each intervention treats its location as material in its own right, responding to light, circulation, acoustics, and neighbouring displays. Some encounters ask for your attention; others quietly change the space around you.

There’s no fixed route. Instead, drift between moments of discovery, exploring how artefacts shape our behaviours, memories and ways of seeing, telling new stories and revealing unexpected ways of acting back. 

Header image: Exploding Hand, 1930 (photographed). Mus. No. PH.101-1984 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London