Washing machines, renaissance sculptures and the democratisation of exhibition displays (Demetra Ignatiou, Cyprus, ITP 2025)
Written by Demetra Ignatiou, Associate Curator, Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation (Cyprus, ITP 2025)
When the Best British Design award was established by the Design Council in the 1950s, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) began collecting the winning designs. However, concerns were raised from within the institution, claiming that “visitors would not expect to see washing machines in the same building as […] Renaissance sculptures.” As it turns out, this kind of display is exactly what visitors want to see!
On Friday 25 July, the cohort of ITP fellows visited all three main locations of the V&A museum in London. Our first stop was the newly opened V&A Storehouse at East Bank, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, where we were warmly welcomed by Benjamin Hinson, Curator & International Programmes Manager and Miri Ahn, Assistant Curator. Many of us have been anticipating this visit since day one of our arrival to London. We were the first visitors to enter but, the space soon filled with a curious, multigenerational, vibrant crowd.
Upon entering the main exhibition area, it quickly became clear that this was going to be an unprecedented museum experience. The project took more than 10 years to complete, and the interior was designed around five large-scale key objects that had to be stored here. Over 250,000 objects are organised and presented across four levels, in ways that challenge conventional museum display and storage principles. Glass and steel dominate the materials used, blending industrial retail interior design concepts with modern architecture notions of transparency.
I must admit, I didn’t spot any washing machines, but I did see a safety curtain control panel and factory-produced mugs exhibited at the same level as Renaissance sculptures. The way this diverse range of objects is stored, made visible, and accessible to visitors is perhaps one of the most successful attempts at flattening hierarchies in material culture displays. The multivocality evoked by the labels – written not only by curators but also by conservators, technicians, researchers, user collectives, and local community members – along with the themes of the mini curated displays (such as Tools, Protest-Making, Exhibition Design, How Objects Enter the V&A Collection and Decolonising Museum Practices) enhance this groundbreaking effort to democratise exhibition displays.
V&A East shifts not only how we access collections but also how we experience museums and exhibitions. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at the operational aspects of the institution and the spectrum of processes and people that allow the display of exhibits – such as the conservators’ studio. It also allows space for visitors to craft their own narratives, to evaluate and interpret the collection, and to engage with it in ways that are minimally preconditioned by individual or institutional visions. We left inspired, carrying with us a multitude of new ideas and enthusiasm.
Our second stop was the Young V&A, a museum of art, design, and performance for children and their families. We were warmly received by Chief Curator Alex Newson, Content Manager and Interpretation Producer Sophie Sage, Assistant Curator Trish Roberts, and International Programmes Assistant Catherine Bryant. We enjoyed a brief walkthrough of the “Making Egypt” temporary exhibition and then we were introduced to the museum’s vision and history. We received an insightful presentation on how the museum transformed from being ABOUT children to being FOR children, discussing the opportunities and challenges of this shift. The shift towards democratisation of museum display was evident in the participatory methods used to co-develop and design the current permanent exhibits in collaboration with children and families, considering their needs, preferences, and engagement capacity. We experienced this firsthand by exploring the permanent exhibits Design, Play, and Imagination, taking us back to a time when games and play were an everyday part of life.
Our final stop was the V&A at South Kensington, where we had the opportunity to independently explore the museum’s collections and two temporary exhibitions: Design and Disability and Cartier. The Friday Late event, themed Taste, added an extra layer of enjoyment to our museum experience, culminating in dancing under the dome, at least for those of us who lasted until the end.
