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London museum opens vast ‘on-demand' storehouse to public

Straits Times

21-06-2025

Entertainment
Straits Times

London museum opens vast ‘on-demand' storehouse to public

A visitor looking at the artefacts exhibited in the newly opened museum V&A East Storehouse in East London on June 12. PHOTO: AFP LONDON – Imagine being able to visit a museum and examine up close thousand-year-old pottery, revel alone in jewellery from centuries past or peer inside a Versace bag. Now, London's V&A has launched a revolutionary new exhibition space, where visitors can choose from some 250,000 objects, order something they want to spend time looking at and have it delivered to a room for a private viewing. Most museums have thousands of precious and historic items hidden away in their stores, which the public never gets to see or enjoy. But the V&A East Storehouse, which opened on May 31 in a specially converted warehouse, has come up with a radical new concept. And it is totally free. Senior curator Georgia Haseldine said: 'Museums should be and are for everybody... the V&A's collection is for everybody. It belongs to everybody, and everyone should be able to have free, equitable and meaningful access to it. 'So, this is a world first. Never has anyone been able to be invited freely, without having to book into the same space as a national collection, on this scale.' One-fifth of the museum's total collection is now available to be viewed and enjoyed in the four-storey building on the former site of the 2012 London Olympic Games. No protective glass British drummer Keith Moon's drum kit is among some 250,000 objects available to the public for viewing. PHOTO: AFP 'It's fantastic, it's so much better than an ordinary museum,' said retired physics teacher Jane Bailey as she toured the floors. 'I'm just really, really impressed by it. We've only just heard about it, but it's phenomenal.' She was transfixed by the sight of the drum kit which belonged to Keith Moon from English rock band The Who, saying it would be great to be able to resuscitate the legendary drummer – who died in 1978 – to play a set for them. Jostling for space side by side on shelves in a massive hangar – which resembles a do-it-yourself commercial warehouse and stretches for more than 30 basketball courts – are everything from ceramics and tapestries to paintings and toys from the Tudor period. There is even the whole 15th-century gilded wooden ceiling from the now-lost Torrijos Palace in Spain; and the Kaufmann Office, a panelled room which is the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside the United States. The gilded ceiling from the now-lost Torrijos Palace, originally from the town of Torrijos near Toledo in Spain, at the V&A East Storehouse. PHOTO: AFP Hanging on display is the stunning stage front cloth made for Le Train Bleu – a copy of a Pablo Picasso painting that was specially designed for the 1924 Ballets Russes production. Its huge size means it has rarely been seen since its stage debut. There is no protective glass. The stage front cloth made for Le Train Bleu – a copy of a Pablo Picasso painting that was specially designed for the 1924 Ballets Russes production – at the V&A East Storehouse. PHOTO: AFP One of the first visitors to the Storehouse was Princess Catherine, a patron of the V&A and keen art lover, who took a tour on June 10. She described the collection as 'eclectic' as she used the 'order an object' system to look at a samples book from renowned 19th-century English textiles designer William Morris, as well as rolls of ornate textiles and a musical instrument. An example of a Frankfurt Kitchen, which is the first type of fitted kitchen, on show at the V&A East Storehouse. PHOTO: AFP All the works are available to the public seven days a week, and can be reserved via an online booking system for a private viewing at a date and time of your choice. Members of staff are on hand paying close attention as visitors don purple gloves and satisfy their curiosity, spending time with the object of their choice. A love letter to objects It is a huge departure from the usual admonishment of 'Don't touch!' found in most museums seeking to protect their objects from damage. Dr Haseldine acknowledged 'we have certainly met with some levels of scepticism and worry'. But she said once the idea was explained properly, including how meaningful it is to start to open up and give collections back to a community, 'people just start to think creatively about how we can do this'. American national Manuel Garza, who lives in London, thought the V&A Storehouse was 'one of the most interesting spaces that just opened up here in London'. One-fifth of the V&A museum's total collection is now available to be viewed at the V&A East Storehouse, which is in the four-storey building on the former site of the 2012 London Olympic Games. PHOTO: AFP Dr Haseldine said 'this building is a love letter to objects'. 'To be able to see around the back of an object, to be able to look inside a dress, to be able to see the bottom of a pot – all these things are how we really learn about our material culture,' she added. A Glastonbury Festival painted bin at the V&A East Storehouse. PHOTO: AFP Expert Kate Hill, who teaches cultural history at Lincoln University, said it is unusual for museums to open up their storehouses. 'Most of the time, they offer some 'behind-the-scene' tour, but their objets are not accessible. It's visible, but not accessible.' Ms Bailey said: 'I would hope that this is the museum of the future because some are very, very stuffy. We went to one recently and it was excruciating.' 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Yahoo

13-06-2025

Business
Yahoo

Iconic Grand Forks restaurant Italian Moon to close; last days June 18-20

Jun. 12—GRAND FORKS — The Italian Moon, a restaurant in Grand Forks since 1965, will close next week, its management has announced. On the restaurant's official website is a message to customers. "It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of Italian Moon," the website said. "This decision was not made lightly. Italian Moon has been more than just a restaurant — it has been a gathering place for families, friends, celebrations and everyday moments. We've had the privilege of serving generations of loyal guests, and we are truly grateful for the memories made within our walls." Its final days open will be June 18, 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. while supplies last, according to a sign outside the restaurant. A Greenberg Realty "property for sale" sign sat beside it. According to past Herald coverage, The Moon opened in 1965, originally operated by Keith Moon. Its menu has specialized in pizza and pasta, along with other American and even Mexican fare. It operated for some four decades under Ken Towers before Scott Purpur took over ownership in 2015. Purpur, the restaurant's owner, previously was a soft drink district sales manager. In a 2012 review of the restaurant, Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty said, "The Moon seems to cater to a broad spectrum. The regulars come from all walks of life and of all ages." And in 2021, she wrote: "The fact that there is no front door at the Moon sets the theme. The place is different from many chain or group restaurants because in these days it is one of a kind. With some customers, it is most popular on Sundays for brunch or for late afternoon visits to the salad bar." A message left for Purpur was not returned before this report was published.

‘We want people to feel like they're trespassing': Inside the V&A's latest venture

Telegraph

28-05-2025

Entertainment
Telegraph

‘We want people to feel like they're trespassing': Inside the V&A's latest venture

From the outside, it's a big-box building in the former Olympic Park. Inside, it is something else entirely: an enormous, kaleidoscopic cabinet of wonders, crossed with an Amazon warehouse. V&A East Storehouse in Stratford is the new home for the national collection of prized clutter. Tier upon tier of shelving groaning with objects seemingly in no particular order, from enormous antique armoires to couture gowns to a child's rocking horse to Keith Moon's drum kit. A week before opening, over three floors ascending to the roof and a fourth working floor beneath a glass mezzanine, museum workers scuttle around carrying boxes and wrestling with wrapping materials. It looks like a Richard Scarry illustration come to life. When Storehouse opens this Saturday the public will be free to wander around via glass walkways. Staff will go about their duties in full view. And anyone can get closer to the collection via an online Order an Object service. This place holds 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 special archives. Make an appointment to view up to five items, seven days a week, 363 days a year, for free. 'It's our workshop, it's where we safeguard everything, and it's a deliberately public space,' says Tim Reeve, the deputy director of the V&A who is leading the project. 'You don't even need a membership card.' It is, he says, a museum turned inside out. 'We wanted people to feel like they're trespassing. Am I allowed here? That feeling of joy, seeing behind the curtain….' The 16,000 square-metre building is a retrofit of the former London 2012 Olympics media centre and the work of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, US architects of the smash-hit High Line public park in Manhattan. 'Rather than try to organise the V&A collection into taxonomies, we thought we would lean into the delirium of it,' says Elizabeth Diller, the architect behind the transformation. She cites the cabinet of curiosities as the model, a term first coined in Renaissance Europe to describe a private collection of treasures and a forerunner to the museum, and which these days refers to a hotchpotch of collected artefacts. Since the V&A's 1852 founding as the Museum of Manufactures, Prince Albert's pet project, its collections have grown to 'span over 5,000 years of human creativity' – and will keep growing. It's one of the world's biggest museums of decorative arts and design, custodian of everything from a 3,000-year-old Shang Dynasty jade ceremonial blade to David Bowie's costumes and ephemera (his archives will be accessible from September via a dedicated study room). Besides South Kensington, which displays 60,000 objects and draws three million visitors a year, more V&A outposts have arrived in recent decades, including V&A Dundee and a refreshed Young V&A (formerly the Museum of Childhood). View this post on Instagram A post shared by V&A East (@vam_east) Still there was not enough space. Government plans to sell the overflowing Blythe House, the V&A's former shared storage facility in west London, were announced in 2015 after which DCMS gave the V&A £63m towards a new one. More money was raised through private philanthropy. The storehouse may also help counter another problem: transparency. Museums are under pressure to reveal what they keep stashed away amid rows about restitution. By letting the public behind the scenes to see how the V&A protects, stores and catalogues objects, it makes itself less open to criticism. Visitors are not entirely abandoned to the packing cases: there are rebuilt architectural fragments to explore, bite-sized curated displays and suggested tour routes. Order an Object opened on May 12 and curators are fielding requests from researchers, students, designers, entrepreneurs and people who simply enjoy looking at beautiful things. What, I ask, is the most-requested item to date? 'A Balenciaga gown,' says Director of Collections Kate Parsons. 'We're expecting its visitors may be fashion students, but we won't know until they come.' What I ordered at the V&A Storehouse Designer boots These wet-look knee-length boots were made by the Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto in 1971. This is no ordinary footwear: the boots were part of Yamamoto's 'Kansai in London' collection, which brought Japanese avant-garde design to the UK, wowed Bowie and Elton John and changed the direction of fashion for the new decade. Parsons takes the boots out of their box and allows me to handle them. They are tiny and cut delicately, the heels and calves shaped with precision. Close up, with their three-inch platform soles wrapped in electric-blue satin, their visual impact is much clearer. The boots borrow from ancient Japanese design but they are also futuristic, space-age artefacts. They would still look outrageous today. An ancient Egyptian tapestry This tapestry was hand-woven in Egypt in AD 300-600. Parsons removes its protective sheath and lays it on the table but it is too fragile to touch. At its centre is a woven vignette of a horseman in battle with another figure, surrounded by horned beasts. Around them are faint images of women with children. The legends the fragment depicts are lost to time but up close, its faded images of ancient human struggles and triumphs are extremely moving. A bass viol The V&A has a vast collection of musical instruments, so at random I choose a bass viol, made between 1648 and 1675 by the Oxford-based luthier John Baker, according to an inked label. Again it is too fragile to touch, but I peer closely at its highly polished sycamore body, its four strings knotted by human hands, its finger-worn ebony fret. According to the catalogue, the viol would have formed part of an ensemble of differently pitched viols known as a 'consort'. A Vivienne Westwood couture corset Part of the British designer's 'Cut, Slash and Pull' collection of 1990. I, too, once owned a Westwood corset (albeit from her cheaper ready-to-wear collection, black and gold with painted cherubs cavorting on the bodice), but I lent it to an acquaintance and it was never returned. Now cult items, these corsets sell for thousands of pounds. I'm struck by the ivory silk garment's diminutive size. Though it is labelled a 12, as was mine, it looks as if it would fit an actual 12-year-old. And while the corset is exquisitely cut, it was clearly worn a lot in the hedonistic 1990s – the silk is sweat-stained and its former owner's hairs are still caught in the zip. A transistor radio Arguably a proto-iPhone in that it was an early portable mass-media device. Nearly everyone had one in the 1970s, including me as a child. They sounded terrible, but they represented excitement: a broadcast from the exciting world of pop music right under my pillow. By the 1980s transistors were ousted by Sony Walkmans. I don't think I've seen one in 40 years. The V&A owns a pocket-sized Solid-state transistor manufactured by Sharp in 1970. It's a beautifully simple design, with its wheeled dials and Made in Malaysia label: all give me a Proustian rush. I'm struck by the density of its red casing, heavy and opaque, unlike modern plastics. Most Proustian of all are its vinyl case and wrist strap – perfect for dangling from a bike's handlebars. V&A East Storehouse, 2 Parkes Street, London E20, is open from May 31;

IN CAS YOU MISSED IT: The Who hint they are about to retire

News.com.au

09-05-2025

Entertainment
News.com.au

IN CAS YOU MISSED IT: The Who hint they are about to retire

The iconic British rock band first formed in 1964 with singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon and have been making music ever since. Daltrey and Townshend are the surviving two members of the group, and this week announced The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour - which they have now highlighted could be their last ever. Daltrey told The Sun, "I don't want to say that there won't be (more), but equally I'm not confident in saying there will be. Let's see if we survive this one.".