European Museum of the Year (2003)
The creation of the British Galleries 1500-1900 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, was the largest gallery project for 50 years at the world’s most important museum of design and the decorative arts. When they opened in 2001 after five years work, the British Galleries were hailed as groundbreaking and stunningly beautiful, and went on to win for the V-A the European Museum of the Year Award (2003). The galleries tell the story of design and the decorative arts in Britain over 400 years, tracing the transformation of Britain from a peripheral role in the affairs of Europe to the 19th century British empire, and its role as workshop of the world. The galleries contain 3000 objects in 3400 sq metres - larger than many museums - everything from teapots to sculpture, books to cabinets, sketch-books to complete period rooms. In particular, historic dress and textiles are now on show thanks to triple-glazed windows and air-conditioning. There are also many imported objects since it is impossible to tell the story of British design without portraying its appetite for exotic novelties, and its willingness to assimilate and absorb new influences and skills.Within a chronological framework, 90 displays follow four repeating themes: Style, Who led taste?, Fashionable Living, What was new? Fundamental to the success of the galleries was the involvement throughout of V-A educators in the development of content and the choice of objects. A guiding principle of the project was that the galleries should appeal to visitors with different educational backgrounds, different interests, different learning styles and different reasons for wanting to visit A wide range of interpretive devices are embedded into the displays, beside historic objects - not separated into a distinct interpretation zone. High technology audios, videos and touch screen interactives are used but so are low-tech activities such as dressing up in replica costume, building replica chairs or drawing. A gallery database provides additional information about and colour images of every single object. Along with all the high tech programmes this is available via the V-A website. Three new kinds of gallery space supplement the displays: Discovery areas for more hands-on and shared learning activities; Film rooms showing a continuous sequence of 15 minute films on such topics as Design and Empire, or the British Country House; and Study rooms with reference material and comfortable seating. The galleries were created by a team of V-A staff and external consultants and contractors. Unusually two teams of designers were hired, to combine a classical, modern idiom of design intended to be clear, consistent and reassuring, with particular regard for historic colours and finishes, offering glamour and historical accuracy at various points. Like the educators, the designers worked closely on the selection of objects from the very beginning of the project. Ideas and content were recorded and shared continuously in electronic and written form - the principal working document evolved through 80 versions over 5 years. Audience research before, during and after the project has enabled us to judge the success of the new galleries. In the six months after the opening of the British Galleries, there 3 times as many visitors to the Museum as the previous year.Visitors spent on average over five times longer than in the old galleries. A very high percentage of visitors felt that interpretation enhanced their appreciation and knowledge.Audience research during the project, much of it carried out in a converted temporary gallery, was critical in testing and improving our ideas for everything from label design to the vocal style of audio programmes. The British Galleries cost just under £31m, and are intended to last 25 years. Half the cost came from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and half was raised from a variety of donors. New gallery projects at the Museum now use them as a template for organisation, educational philosophy and interpretive methods. The British Galleries have become a teaching resource, not only about design and art in Britain but also about museum display, and have been visited by numerous museum colleagues from all over the world. In response to this interest we have written a book Creating the British Galleries at the V-A : a Museological Study (London,2004) which documents the history of the project, the thinking behind it and the process we went through, while reflecting on the successes and failures of the galleries.
