00:00I am so excited that there are going to be people in this space because V&A East was conceived
00:06from its very beginnings with people in mind, that we have over the last three years consulted 30,000 people,
00:15I've visited more than 100 schools, talking to young people, asking them what they would like from a museum.
00:21And what we've delivered, I think, in partnership with local communities, is unlike any museum that I've worked in or
00:30visited.
00:31Music is Black, our opening exhibition, a celebration of contemporary and historic British music, absolutely glorious exhibition to opening with
00:43them.
00:43And our permanent collection, it has been reconsidered through the lens of the priorities of young people.
00:49And we've spoken to so many who don't visit museums, not voluntarily, asked them about the things that they thought
00:57were important, and we've included their perspectives.
01:00If you visit V&A East, have a look at the sorts of themes that the permanent collection has been
01:10conceived through.
01:11Look at the uniforms, look at the uniforms, look at every single detail of delivery, whether it be operational or
01:19curatorial, those things, those elements of work have been delivered in partnership with local communities.
01:26We've spoken to 30,000 local people, we've worked with cohorts of young people over years in trying to think
01:37about how to create a contemporary museum that really speaks to their needs and their perspectives.
01:43And I think, every time I come in here, that my heart lifts with joy.
01:48This is the sort of space that, as a young person, I would have loved to come into.
01:52I've adored museums throughout my life, but I haven't always felt that they reflected my needs, my values.
01:58And it's also a useful space, a space within which we want people to get purchased on their own professional
02:06aspirations and think about how they might realise them.
02:09So I cannot wait for a generation of young creatives to come in and discover this space.
02:14Behind its doors, in front of which stands Thomas J. Price's 18-foot sculpture, V&A East Museum opens its
02:23first landmark multi-sensory exhibition.
02:26The music is Black, A British Story, the largest ever exhibition on the impacts of black British music on the
02:35UK and around the world.
02:37Featuring over 200 objects from the V&A's collection and important loans at its heart, it celebrates the emergence of
02:45eight distinct black British genres from two-tone to lovers' rock.
02:51Brit-funk, jungle, drum and bass, trip-hop, UK garage and grime.
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