As director of learning and national programmes at Victoria and Albert Museum, Dr Helen Charman leads the organisation’s Learning, Interpretation, V&A Academy and National Programmes. She has been responsible for the £13million Young V&A redevelopment, a three-year project which has transformed the Museum of Childhood in London’s Bethnal Green. The Young V&A opened to the public in July 2023.
Speaking to blooloop, she explained that the new attraction would “invest in children from birth to 14 years old by giving them a dedicated museum that would help foster what we call their creative competence.”
The Young V&A project was developed with extensive input from children and young people.
“That’s a significant shift in the way that we make museums,” explained Charman. “To ensure that this museum is relevant and inspiring and that it speaks to the needs, interests, aspirations, and dreams of children, we worked with them to create it.”
She added: “We have several objectives with Young V&A. One is that we can help influence the sector towards more inclusive, child-centred design of museums more broadly. We are beginning to see this shift happening and we hope Young V&A can be a powerful catalyst for that.
“There is the start of a transformation in the way that museums think about what they do, who they work with, how they display collections, etc. And it’s great to be part of that movement.”
Charman joined the V&A in 2018 and has over three decades of experience in cultural learning, across schools, universities, local government, charities, festivals, and public museums. She was formerly director of learning and research at the Design Museum in London and was a founder member of the learning and interpretation team as senior curator of education at Tate Modern.
She was awarded a doctorate in museum education by University College London: the Institute of Education, and an MA in art history from Birkbeck College.