The Young V&A in Bethnal Green, East London, has won the prestigious Museum of the Year award, taking home an impressive £120,000 (€142,000) prize. Renowned for its innovative and engaging approach, the museum, previously known as the Museum of Childhood, has undergone a major three-year £13 million (€15 million) refurbishment before reopening in July 2023.
The judges praised the museum for its exceptional ability to connect with the Bethnal Green community and its ground-breaking transformation of the museum experience for young people. Jenny Waldman, Director of the Art Fund, the UK’s national charity for the arts, praised the institution, saying that it had successfully reimagined the museum by putting its target audience at the forefront and tailoring all aspects of the museum around the central focus of young people. Waldman went on to describe it as “the world’s most joyful museum.”
Aimed at children aged 0-14, the Young V&A features over 2,000 objects from 2300 BC to the present day, divided into three galleries: Play, Imagine and Design. These areas include an open design studio, a teenage game design space and an interactive Minecraft installation. Breaking away from traditional museum conventions, the Young V&A welcomes visitors to touch and interact with the exhibits, encouraging noisy and playful engagement.
One of the museum’s recent highlights was the temporary exhibition ‘Japan: Myths to Manga’, which took visitors on a fascinating journey through Japanese history, culture and folklore. The exhibition attracted high-profile visitors, including Naruhito, Emperor of Japan, and his wife, Empress Masako, who visited the museum last month.
The Young V&A stood out from a shortlist of other institutions that have undergone significant renovations in recent years, such as the National Portrait Gallery and the Manchester Museum, which will reopen in 2022. Other nominees included Dundee Contemporary Arts, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the Craven Museum in Skipton. The other four finalists will each receive £15,000 in recognition of their achievements.
