The Princess of Wales opens the Young V&A
Published
The Princess of Wales, Patron of the V&A, officially opened the Young V&A (formerly known as the V&A Museum of Childhood), ahead of its opening to the public on Saturday 1st July 2023.
The museum is dedicated to children and young people aged 0-14 and following a three-year transformation, will be a world leading museum of design and creativity.
Local schoolchildren, parents and teachers played a critical role in the project, participating in co-design and co-production workshops in which they worked with the architects and Young V&A team to reconceive how the building could be used, designed key architectural features, contributed ideas for the displays and exhibition programme and participated in making new commissions for the galleries.
Young V&A houses three new galleries called Play, Imagine, and Design. Each has been conceived for specific age groups, from babies to teens, with nearly 2000 objects from the V&A’s collections presented in new and playful ways, designed to inspire children’s own creativity.
At the museum, The Princess of Wales was given a tour of the building by schoolchildren who were part of the project. Her Royal Highness first visited the Play Gallery, a sensory landscape for toddlers inspired by the way infants experience the world. Whilst in the gallery, The Princess met children and heard about how the gallery is dedicated to the development of language, motor skills, and constructive play, before visiting The Arcade, a space designed for teenagers which explores the history and process of video and boardgame design.
Following this, Her Royal Highness visited the Design Gallery, a space which showcases how innovative objects are designed and how design has the power to make a positive impact on the world. With a working studio that houses Young V&A’s Designer in Residence and a Studio space, the gallery will also provide workshops and sessions for young people to escape and create, as well as inspire the designers of tomorrow.
In the Imagine Gallery, The Princess engaged with children about the different activities they have been taking part in at the museum. The gallery includes a variety of spaces to inspire creative expression through performance, storytelling, imagination, and community. At the heart of the gallery is The Stage, a new dedicated performance space featuring objects from the V&A’s renowned Theatre and Performance Collection, where children can also enjoy dressing up and performing their own shows.
Related content
The King and Queen, joined by Members of the Royal Family, will mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings
A speech by Her Majesty The Queen at the Charleston Festival 2024
Books and gardens are faithful friends to whom we can always turn to. They both have the ability to comfort, to cheer and to connect us with people and nature, reminding us...
A speech delivered by The Queen at a Reception to recognise those who support survivors of sexual assault and to relaunch of the Washbags Project
Thank you for sharing your stories, thank you for your kindness, thank you for not remaining strangers to those enduring the darkest of times, and, most of all, thank you for...
The Queen's speech at a reception to recognise those who support survivors of sexual assault
Your stories and your experiences are vital tools as we seek to bring about change: to forge a world in which people, whoever and wherever they are, do not live in fear of...
A speech by Her Majesty The Queen on her first visit to The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths’ Own), having been appointed as Colonel-in-Chief
My father described the Regiment as a “highly efficient entity, highly skilled, and full of personalities”, I have no doubt that your upcoming deployments will be...
The Queen's support of the Arts
The King's support of the Arts
A message from The King on the 75th Anniversary on the Founding of N.A.T.O.
Message from The King for the 2024 Royal Maundy Service
It is my special prayer today that Our Lord’s example of serving one another might continue to inspire us and to strengthen all our communities.
The Queen's speech at a reception to mark the results of The Queen’s Reading Room study
We share a very special bond, ladies and gentlemen – our love of books. Thank you for helping to spread the word.