V&A East Museum has announced its first exhibition, ‘The Music Is Black: A British Story’, which will open with the new museum in 2025.
The V&A’s immersive exhibition will reveal the impact of Black British music on British culture and across the world. Visitors will celebrate 125 years of Black music in Britain, from jazz and reggae to grime and rap.
“Set against a backdrop of British colonialism and evolving social, political, and cultural landscapes, we will celebrate the richness and versatility of Black and Black British music as instruments of protest, affirmation, and creativity, and reveal the untold stories behind some of the world’s most popular music of all time,” said Jacqueline Springer, exhibition curator.
Gus Casely-Hayford, V&A East Director, said the exhibition will “tell a long-overdue story about the creation of our national sound and its impact on culture around the world”.
‘The Music Is Black: A British Story’ is being developed with full access to the BBC archive. On view will be paintings, prints, playbills, posters, fashion and textiles, and photography and film.
The exhibition will include a soundtrack, evocative set design, audiovisual elements, immersive installations, and musical instruments and equipment.
These will be used to highlight early pioneers such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Winifred Atwell, Emile Ford and Janet Kay, international stars including Joan Armatrading, Sade, Soul II Soul, Seal, Goldie and Massive Attack, and current artists such as Shabaka Hutchings, Kano, Jorja Smith and Ezra Collective.
“There are so many different colours and shades of Black music, and so many eclectic styles that have emerged from the UK,” said Trevor Nelson, music broadcaster and presenter.
V&A East to open in 2025
He added: “The fact that we haven’t had a national exhibition on Black British music is quite surprising to me. I feel it needs to be documented. But more importantly, to tell the stories that are untold.”
V&A East is part of the £1.1 billion East Bank cultural hub in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The museum’s opening exhibition will inspire special activities, events, displays and live performances across East Bank in collaboration with the BBC, Sadler’s Wells East, UAL’s London College of Fashion, and UCL East.
“London is the music capital of the world and at the heart of that success is the incredible contribution of Black British artists,” said London’s mayor Sadiq Khan.
Lead image courtesy of V&A and Dennis Morris
