The Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, London, holds the largest collection of South Asian art and design outside the region, spanning the ancient past to the present day.
This internationally significant collection faces an increasing risk of damage, highlighting the urgent need to preserve it and improve public access.
Community voices at the heart of the redesign
The project team will work with the South Asian community, young people, artists and professionals to incorporate a wider range of histories, identities and experiences, including the colonial history of the museum's South Asian art collection.
This co-creative approach will help shape the gallery’s stories, ensuring it reflects South Asian heritage and encourages meaningful conversations across generations and cultures.
For the first time since 1995, the gallery will display the Kochi ceiling, a 19th-century wooden temple ceiling from South India. Its intricately carved panels illustrate stories from the Ramayana, one of the major epics in Hindu literature.
A national programme with four partner museums in Bradford, Leicester, Derby and Bristol will engage audiences in creating a South Asian handling collection and digital resource.
Once opened, the gallery will offer a more engaging visitor experience through accessible interpretation, transformed displays and digital technology.
If you’re looking for further project inspiration, explore our funding across the London & South area.
