The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design. It was established after the 1851 Great Exhibition with the radical, utilitarian and entrepreneurial aim of educating and inspiring the public. The Museum holds many of the UK’s national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, jewellery, ceramics, the book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance, and the cultures of childhood.

 

The V&A has always been dedicated to using material culture as a way of advancing access to and knowledge of the designed world. Research is a core activity of the V&A, which was also the first museum in the world to establish a dedicated Research Department. The Museum plays a leading role in binding together the fields of art, design and performance; conservation and collections management; and object-led, museum-based learning.

 

Our researchers work on diverse topics, all of which serve the same ultimate goals: to help us learn more about collections and do a better job of sharing them with stakeholders, and to train a new generation of scholars who can bridge the academic and heritage sectors and integrate the strengths of both in order to effectively understand and communicate arts and humanities research.