This blog post was updated on October 11, 2018.
The Victoria & Albert Museum of art and design is named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. Founded in the 1850s, it has since grown to cover 12.5 acres and houses almost 150 galleries with an overall collection spanning 5,000 years of art in virtually every medium. Commonly known as the V&A, this self ascribed “world’s greatest museum of art and design” is unquestionably the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, boasting a permanent collection of more than 4.5 million objects. Certainly a more than worthwhile destination in its own right, the V&A is situated in South Kensington’s Museum Quarter near the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum with top attractions such as Harrods, Hyde Park and range of popular restaurants and shops within easy reach.
An especially smart time to visit the museum is during the evening of the late Friday of each month (excluding December) for free activities and exhibition entry lasting until 10 p.m. and based around a central design theme. The next Friday Late at the V&A will feature a “Red Carpet” theme coinciding with the museum’s currently running Hollywood Costume exhibition which ends Sunday the 27th. Hollywood Costume gives visitors a chance to see more than a hundred of the film world’s most iconic and historic costumes like Dorothy’s red slippers from The Wizard of Oz along with articles worn in hit movies such as Vertigo, Ben Hur, Some Like It Hot, Taxi Driver, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man, The Artist and more.
This special Hollywood edition of Friday Late will be on January 25th starting at 6:30 p.m. and will present guests with an “evening of bright lights and A-list glamour as we celebrate Hollywood Costume.” Attendees are asked to “dress as your favourite movie character, experience the red carpet and then step behind the scenes” and to “let your imagination run wild.”
The V&A is located at the corner of Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road. It’s only a five minute walk away from South Kensington Underground Station (on the Piccadilly, Circle and District Line) or a ten minute walk from Knightsbridge Underground Station (on the Piccadilly Line). The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. and its permanent collections are free to view.
Find out more about the V&A, its Friday Late events and more at vam.ac.uk.
Don’t forget to ‘LIKE‘ us on Facebook!
Photo: Chris Osburn
Leave a Comment