Sharing a mission to create art and culture with and for new audiences, the three-year partnership comprises two programme elements: the annual Art Explora Art Commission (2026 - 2028) and the Art Explora Performing Arts Programme, along with support for the Art Explora Creative Studio at V&A East Storehouse.
The partnership has been specifically structured to invite different communities from V&A East’s surrounding boroughs (Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest) to participate in bold and new contemporary artistic practices, in collaboration with emerging and established artists.
The Art Explora Art Commission at V&A East
The 2024 Turner Prize-winning artist Jasleen Kaur has been chosen for the inaugural Art Explora Art Commission at V&A East. To be unveiled in autumn 2026, Kaur’s work will be taken beyond the walls of the museum and embedded in public spaces surrounding V&A East’s two sites in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse.
I’m really interested in how the city, the neighbourhood, the street, the pavement works. Together with local groups I’ll be producing a series of sculptural and sonic works that intervene in public infrastructure and explore this complicated sense of place.
Kaur was one of 34 international artists nominated by cultural leaders and community practitioners working across the four East London boroughs – and ultimately chosen by a final jury that included Justine Simons OBE (Deputy Mayor of London for Culture and Creative Industries), James Lingwood (co-founder, Artangel), Zoé Whitley (art historian and curator), Jeremy Deller (artist), Art Explora Founder Frédéric Jousset, and UK Director Jemima Montagu, alongside V&A East Director Gus Casely-Hayford, V&A East Chief Curator, Brendan Cormier and V&A East Learning & Engagement colleagues.
Image: © Suzannah Pettigrew
The Art Explora Performing Arts Programme at V&A East
The Art Explora Performing Arts Programme at V&A East, in partnership with Studio Wayne McGregor, engages 16–18-year-olds from four local further education colleges in East London in a new co-creative dance process responding to objects in the V&A collection. For the inaugural year, young participants will work directly with Studio Wayne McGregor to develop a new performance in response to Picasso’s iconic 1924 painted stage cloth Le Train Bleu currently on display at V&A East Storehouse.
We are thrilled to announce a partnership with Art Explora x V&A East to lead the inaugural Performing Arts Programme for young adults. Learning and engagement projects have been central to Studio Wayne McGregor’s philosophy since Sir Wayne McGregor’s work as a dance animateur in East London at the very beginning of his career. We are deeply committed to engaging with the community and championing the next generation of young artists, and we are excited to see how they use this opportunity to hone and develop their individual voices through dance.
The creative development process will culminate in a performance in front of the stage cloth at V&A East Storehouse in February 2026. The programme will support local young people’s creativity and confidence, building connections with local cultural organisations, and increasing knowledge about creative career opportunities.
The Art Explora Creative Studio at V&A East Storehouse
Art Explora also played a vital role in the establishment of V&A East Storehouse with a significant grant in support of the creation of the Art Explora Creative Studio. This space has been designed to enable object-based learning and practical making for all visitors to V&A East Storehouse. The studio is fully equipped to accommodate a range of activities from seminars to craft teaching and digital workshops. It can also be combined with the adjacent Foyle Creative Studio for larger public programming activities such as film screenings or seminars.
Art Explora
Art Explora is a non-profit arts organisation founded in the UK in 2021. Their mission is to tackle the social, economic and geographic barriers that prevent many people from having the opportunity to take part in the arts. They increase access to arts and culture through innovative programming and partnerships, new approaches to engagement and by taking cultural projects into the heart of communities, schools and care settings.
Art Explora runs an annual European Award programme championing arts projects across Europe that demonstrate innovative approaches to public engagement and participation. Art Explora’s fleet of Mobile Museum trucks tour across UK and France, bringing exhibitions of art from major public collections such as Centre Pompidou and Tate directly into the heart of communities. At the heart of Art Explora is their community programme, taking conversations about art into care settings through Arts at Home, supported by volunteers. In the UK, Art Explora also gives travel grants to schools to take children from the most deprived areas of the country on school trips to museums, where they play and learn through an exciting digital adventure game called Time Odyssey.
Image: Art Explora Mobile Museum in collaboration with Tate and MuMo, 2023. Photo: VJT Photography
Art Explora is a non-profit arts organisation founded by philanthropist Frédéric Jousset in 2019 with offices in France and the UK. Art Explora is registered UK charity no.1202489.
