“The vision for Order an Object was to bring people closer to the V&A’s collection than ever before,” says Kate Parsons, the V&A’s Director of Collections Care and Access. “It was very important that any person could access any object for any reason, even if it was just to see something that made them happy.”
The public response has surpassed the museum’s high hopes; nearly 30,000 objects have been booked since the opening. “That’s 30,000 objects that otherwise would have remained in storage, unseen,” says Parsons. People check items out for all sorts of reasons. Items from the Storehouse’s David Bowie Centre, home to the music icon’s complete archive of costumes, instruments, and ephemera, have been popular bookings since the collection debuted in September. One person crossed an ocean to view a distant ancestor’s wedding dress. And staff are finding visitor requests helpful as a guidepost in deciding future exhibitions.
The Storehouse has inspired a flood of inquiries from other museums interested in following its lead, part of a global push to foster greater interactivity and community access to museum archives. São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) in Brazil has dramatically expanded its footprint to show more of its collection of European, Brazilian, African, and Indigenous art (only 1% of which was previously on view). In Paris, the Fondation Cartier introduced a dedicated facility for community education and hands-on workshops. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has developed virtual-reality experiences for both in-person and remote visitors to better examine some of the museum’s largest objects, like the ancient Egyptian Temple of Dendur and a Kwoma ceremonial house ceiling from New Guinea. On April 18, the V&A will launch its next collaborative project: the V&A East, a companion museum that will focus on local artists, global culture, and the change-making power of creativity. Developed in partnership with area makers via the V&A East’s Youth Collective and other community groups, V&A East will celebrate its opening with a festival tied to its inaugural exhibition, “The Music is Black: A British Story.” That’s just the beginning.