London’s V&A and V&A East are kicking off 2025 with a spectacular lineup of exhibitions and events. Whether you’re interested in Mughal art, exploring sustainability, or enjoying family-friendly workshops, these events promise a cultural feast. Here’s everything you need to plan your next visit.
Step Back in Time with V&A’s Historic Exhibitions
Explore the opulence of the Mughal era with The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence exhibition (until May 4). Featuring over 200 rare artifacts, it delves into the creative brilliance of one of history’s wealthiest courts. If fashion is your passion, NAOMI: In Fashion (until April 6) showcases the extraordinary career of Naomi Campbell.
Experience Eco-Themed Creativity at V&A East
Making Ecosystems (Feb 1) offers a unique day out in Walthamstow. Engage in hands-on workshops and discover how local creatives are redefining sustainability. Explore behind-the-scenes tours and enjoy activities that address global environmental challenges.
Family Fun and Workshops at Young V&A
Young V&A has a packed schedule for families. The Story Festival on January 25 celebrates storytelling through music, dance, and theatre workshops. Mini Play (Jan 24–Feb 8) engages babies and carers in sensory activities. Meanwhile, Making Egypt opens February 15, taking children on a journey through ancient Egypt’s creativity and influence on modern design.
Celebrate Art, Design, and Photography
At V&A South Kensington, the Nature Study exhibition highlights ecology’s influence on photography. If activism in architecture piques your interest, explore Barricade and Beacon (until Feb 28), which features transformative installations that redefine protest spaces.
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V&A SOUTH KENSINGTON
EXHIBITIONS
The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence
Until Sunday, 4 May 2025
V&A South Kensington
Galleries 38 and 39
£22.00
This major exhibition will celebrate the extraordinary creative output and internationalist culture of the Golden Age of the Mughal Court (about 1560 – 1660) during the reigns of its most famous emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. It will shine a light on one of the wealthiest courts in the world and tell the story of an immense early modern empire, largely untold within the U.K., showcasing over 200 objects, including rarely shown paintings and illustrated manuscripts not seen for a generation.
Jameel Prize: Moving Images
Saturday, 30 November 2024
V&A South Kensington
The Porter Gallery
Free
See how this exhibition reflects the ways in which artists address questions of identity, community, and personal history in a series of intimate, immersive encounters spanning film, photography, animation, installation, sound, sculpture, and virtual reality.
Jameel Prize: Moving Images is an international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, society and ideas.
NAOMI: In Fashion
Closes 6 April 2025
V&A South Kensington
Gallery 40
£16.00
Discover the first exhibition of its kind exploring the extraordinary career of fashion model Naomi Campbell. Attendees will gain a deep insight into her work alongside leading global designers and photographers in addition to her creative collaborations, activism, and far-reaching cultural impact.
DISPLAYS
Photography Now
Saturday, 8 June 2024 – Sunday, 18 May 2025
10.00 – 17.30
V&A South Kensington
Photography Centre, Gallery 96-97
Free
Explore some of today’s most pressing issues through the diverse approaches to photography demonstrated in this display. Its thematic conception touches upon conflict, colonialism, social inequality and ecology issues. The artists presented include Anton Kusters, Edmund Clark, Jo Ractliffe, Lebohang Kganye, Liliana Farber, Mohamed Bourouissa, Poulomi Basu, Roger Palmer and Sam Contis. The display highlights the breadth and diversity of the V&A’s contemporary photography programme.
Nature Study: Ecology and the Contemporary Photobook
Wednesday, 10 July 2024 – Sunday, 18 May 2025
10.00 – 17.30
V&A South Kensington
Photography Centre, Room 98, The Kusuma Gallery
Free
Admire the ways in which landscapes, flora and fauna have inspired photographers since the camera’s earliest days, prompting contemporary artists to experiment with the format of the book to adapt to the pressing challenges of our environment today. See their books as a reflection of an ongoing transformation in how humans understand and impact the natural world.
Barricade and Beacon
Saturday, 14 September 2024 – Friday, 28 February 2025
10.00 – 17.30
V&A South Kensington
The Architecture Landing (Gallery 127)
Free
See iconic spaces within the V&A Museum transformed by an extraordinary collection of specially commissioned installations and displays by international contemporary designers during London Design Festival.
Barricade and Beacon explores the intersection between architecture and activism and focuses attention on the role architects, designers and citizens can play in lobbying for change. The display features two structures: Barricade, made from U-Build units, and Beacon, fabricated from bamboo and based on designs by Extinction Rebellion.
Presented by the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership, the installation is a collaboration with London-based architects Studio Bark and coincides with the publication of Protest Architecture (RIBA Publishing, 2024) by founding member of Studio Bark, Nick Newman.
Part of London Design Festival at the V&A
#LDF24
V&A Illustration Awards
Wednesday, 18 – Saturday, 21 September 2025
10.00 – 17.30
V&A South Kensington
Leighton, Room 102
Free
The V&A Illustration Awards is a free, biennial competition celebrating excellence in illustration and contemporary practice. The awards highlight a broad range of illustration styles and subjects. This display features the work of this year’s winners and runners-up from each of the five categories: Emerging Illustrator, Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction, Illustration for Children, as well as Advertising and Commercial.
The V&A Illustration Awards are generously supported by The Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmill Memorial fund.
Artists at Work: Museum Residencies 2024
Closes Saturday, 1 November 2025
V&A South Kensington
Gallery 29
Free
Experience the work of the first cohort of Adobe Creative Residents: Luca Bosani, Jacqui Ramrayka and Rachel Sale. Explore each artist’s creative journey, their connections with different communities and how their experiences at the V&A have changed their ways of working.
FAMILIES
Make it: Fashion
Saturday, 25 January – Saturday 22 February
10.30 – 16.30
V&A South Kensington
Art Studio, Learning Centre
£20
Join our monthly Make its for hands-on, family-friendly workshops, inspired by the V&A’s collection and exhibitions. This season focuses on exploring textiles and fashion, printmaking and design, and will equip you with the tools to then develop a design of your own!
Sensory Friendly: Design and Draw with Light
Saturday, 8 February 2025
11.00 – 16.00
V&A South Kensington
Art Studio, Learning Centre
Free
Take part in these free workshops for visitors with a neurodiversity or sensory processing disorder and their families, get creative and have fun! As a family you’ll get to design, make and draw using lightboxes and overhead projectors.
If you need a break, there will be a breakout space available through the day, with one within the event space and the other nearby. This space will have: a blackout tent, cushions, sensory toys, and ear defenders.
Digital Kids: Listening Garden
Tuesday, 18 – Friday, 21 February 2025
11.00 – 16.00
V&A South Kensington
Digital Studio, V&A Learning Centre
Free
Explore the hidden sounds around you, take a moment to reflect, and design your very own garden-inspired sound mix. Play, experiment, and combine a range of natural sounds with your own, to bring your own soundscape to life.
This is a free, drop-in activity for families to enjoy together. Suitable for ages 5+, and no child can be left unattended. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time, no booking is required.
Drop-in: Crafting with Colours & Screening
Saturday, 22 March 2025
11.00 – 16.00
V&A South Kensington
Raphael Court, Room 48a
Free
Take part in a creative drop in where you’ll get to make and dance, drawing inspiration from the NAOMI: In Fashion exhibition, mindfulness, and fashion. Each session will include a workshop and the screening of short dance films that celebrate the magic of everyday clothes and dressing as a form of self-expression.
The mindfulness session will be led by artist Tyreis Holder, who will guide you through the process of using colourful fabric and magazines to make a collage.
TALKS
Culture in Crisis: Global challenges and opportunities for cultural heritage – the 2025 World Monuments Fund Watch
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
18.30 – 20.00
V&A South Kensington
Lecture Theatre
Free
Across the globe, cultural heritage faces a myriad of changing risks and threats, from the destructive power of conflict to the impact of rapid urbanisation and the growing peril of the climate crisis.
This in-person event at the V&A South Kensington, convened by the museum’s Culture in Crisis Programme in partnership with World Monuments Fund Britain, will draw together speakers to discuss these emergent risks to heritage and the announcement of the 2025 Watch. From the British Isles to North and Sub-Saharan Africa, we will explore case studies from Watch lists old and new, exploring successes, challenges and some of the changes seen over the past decades – and look ahead to the new cycle of work about to begin.
William Morris & Art from the Islamic World
Friday, 7 February 2025
18.30 – 20.15
V&A South Kensington
The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
£12.00 – £15.00
Mark the launch of a groundbreaking new William Morris Gallery exhibition with a talk from the V&A’s Max Donnelly, accompanied by exhibition co-curators Rowan Bain and Qaisra M. Khan. Together, they will discuss how art from the Islamic World influenced Arts & Crafts designer William Morris.
The William Morris Gallery celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025. This is the first in a series of anniversary talks being held at institutions across the UK during this landmark year.
Black Photography: 1980s Rebellion to Renaissance Through the Lens of Ian Watts
Friday, 7 March 2025
18.15 – 21.45
V&A South Kensington
Hochhauser Auditorium
£15.00
Join photographer Ian Watts in conversation with independent curator Ayesha Adonais as they explore Ian’s unseen photographic archive from the 1980s, set against a music soundtrack with project collaborator Blackmale Beats.
Through this creative collaboration, the power of visual and auditory storytelling will come to life, exploring the iconic narratives of the Black liberation movements across continents during the 1980s, complimented by musician Blackmale Beats’ live music soundtrack, creating a multi-sensory experience to enhance its varied range of photographic themes.
CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS
Africa Rising North Kensington Creative Festival Day
Saturday, 15 March 2025
12.00 – 17.30
V&A South Kensington
Hochhauser Auditorium, Learning Centre
£5.00
We welcome the North Kensington community to join us at V&A South Kensington for a day of immersive and creative activities, talks, tours and workshops.
This event will give visitors access to our acclaimed NAOMI: In Fashion exhibition and will feature a special presentation by Senior Curator Sonnet Stanfill who will discuss the model’s iconic 40-year career. Attendees will be offered a choice of tours across the museum led by our amazing African Heritage Guides, as well as access to the Designer Advice Market – a chance to meet with inspiring North Kensington designers!
Tuareg Productions: Our Legacy Through Multimedia Storytelling
Saturday, 22 March 2025
13.00 – 16.30
V&A South Kensington
Hochhauser Auditorium
£10.00
Celebrate 21 years of Tuareg Productions and its impact as a leader of cultural innovation, capturing the dynamic evolution of multicultural Britain. This event will encompass a retrospective of documentaries, exhibition imagery, a monologue, and launch of a new production.
The day will be facilitated by Tuareg’s founder, Lorna Holder, who will lead interactive discussions on the storytelling processes that shape Tuareg’s multimedia productions. The afternoon will conclude with the launch of Dress to Remember – a dementia-friendly project, developed in collaboration with Tuareg Production and Brent Council’s Libraries, Arts, Heritage, and Outreach Services. This initiative uses family photographs to help individuals with dementia revisit family archives and reconnect with meaningful moments from their past.
YOUNG PEOPLE
Mughal Floral Embroidery Workshop
Saturday, 15 February 2025
11.00 – 16.00
V&A South Kensington
Digital Studio, Learning Centre
£25.00
Join artist Semira Badesha for an embroidery workshop inspired by Mughal floral designs.
In this workshop you will learn different embroidery stitches and create your own floral wall hanging framed in a wooden hoop to take home.
This workshop is perfect for all skill levels, from beginners to experienced crafters.
Tickets include entry to The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence exhibition
TOURS
Inspiration Africa: Stories Beyond the Artefacts
First two Saturdays of each month
15.30 – 16.30
V&A South Kensington
Starts at the meeting point: Cromwell Road foyer, V&A South Kensington
Free
Join our volunteer guides and share in their passion and pride as they impart with visitors their specialist knowledge, revealing the deep and extraordinary African Heritage narratives within the V&A collections.
YOUNG V&A
EXHIBITION
Making Egypt
Opens Saturday, 15 February 2025
Young V&A
£10
Young V&A’s newest exhibition opens this February, embarking visitors on a fascinating journey through the ancient past to modern day, exploring ancient Egypt’s creativity and how it continues to influence art, design and popular culture today.
INSTALLATION
Quantum Jungle: Festive Edition
On now until Sunday, 19 January 2025
10.00 – 17.00
Young V&A, Town Square
Free
Young V&A presents Quantum Jungle: Festive Edition, an interactive installation to light up the dark winter nights, by artist, engineer and designer Robin Baumgarten. Located in the heart of the museum’s Town Square, this playful and mesmerising installation builds on Robin’s experiments reimagining videogame controllers and features over 800 tactile springs in an artwork that lights up when touched.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Story Festival
Saturday, 25 January 2025
Young V&A
11.00 – 15.30
Free
Join us at the Young V&A for a special day of free workshops and performances across the museum, celebrating stories through music, dance, film and poetry! Activities include a kathak dance workshop, performances by the Chickenshed theatre company and collage-based activities in our Open Studio.
WORKSHOPS
Family Design Challenge
Saturday, 11 January 2025 – Saturday, 8 March 2025
Young V&A, Open Studio, Design Gallery
12.00 – 16.00
Free
Get creative with materials at the museum’s Open Studio in these hands-on family sessions which run every second Saturday of the month. January’s workshop will show visitors how to make zines inspired by the ways we play using collage techniques, and in February, visitors are invited to join a Paper Beading workshop inspired by Young V&A’s new exhibition Making Egypt.
Make-Lab Masterclass: 3D Stop-Motion Animation with Chocolate Films
Saturday, 18 January 2025
Young V&A, Learning Studio
10.30 – 16.00
£25.00
Join professional filmmakers from Chocolate Films for a masterclass in 3D stop-motion animation. During these interactive sessions, adults and children will work with professional artists to plan a short sequence and devise sets to make their very own films.
Mini Play for babies
Friday, 24 January 2025 – Saturday, 8 February 2025
Young V&A, Play Studio, Learning Centre
11.00 – 15.00
£12.00
Explore the museum’s sensory play activities in these creative sessions catered for babies and their carers. Led by artist Abigail Horn and storyteller/author Jamel Carly Campbell, each session will be a combination of messy play, singing, experimenting with textures and more!
Teen Takeover: Animate, Photograph, Create!
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Young V&A, Learning Centre
13.00 – 16.00
£25.00
In this special event, 11–14-year old’s are invited to take part in a programme of creative workshops inspired by Young V&A’s upcoming exhibition, Making Egypt. Create and collaborate with Comic Book artist, Ahmed Raafat, make your own animated scene with filmmakers from Chocolate films and join a Artist and Designer Panel Discussion to find out more about a day in the life of our facilitating artists and routes into creative careers.
Makers Club (11-14)
On now until Saturday, 29 March 2025
Young V&A
12.00 – 16.00
11 – 14-year-olds
Free
On the last Saturday of every month a free-drop-in session will take place focused on developing making skills, through a variety of designer led workshops. Aimed exclusively at 11-14-year-olds, themes vary month by month and alternate between textile and print based activities. Upcoming sessions include zine making and Riso printing with designer Natascha Von Uexkull.
OPEN STUDIO
Meet the Designers
Thursdays and Saturdays from Saturday, 4 January 2025 – Thursday, 27 February 2025
Young V&A, Open Studio, Design Gallery
Thursday – 14.00-13.00 Saturday – 11.00-13.00
Families, Under 26, Schools
Free
Meet the Designers in The Shed: Orin Bristow & Rosita Kær. During a six-month placement, their project ‘Old Heap’ will explore everyday collections through playful printed matter and DIY publishing.
POP-UP
The Octopus Club at Young V&A
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 – Sunday, 26 January 2025
Young V&A, Top Floor Shop
10.00 – 17.00
Young V&A is hosting a collaboration with The Octopus Club, with a pop-up shop in the museum. Visitors can browse ‘The Nearly New Store’, filled with second hand baby and kids clothing and gear available to purchase.
V&A EAST
Making Ecosystems
Saturday 1 February 2025
Various Locations
11am – 6pm
Free
Join V&A East for a day out exploring ecology and making in Walthamstow. Walk, make, eat and go behind-the-scenes with creative studios around Blackhorse Lane to discover how creatives in Walthamstow are taking local action on pressing global environmental issues and rethinking the impact of design and making. Enjoy a free day of hands-on workshops, open studio visits and local walks.
Brought to you by V&A East’s back2back programme.
Supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art
V&A WEDGWOOD COLLECTION
People of Wedgwood Project Space
2023-2025
Open Wednesday-Sunday
10am-5pm
Free
Visit the People of Wedgwood Project Space, a community hub to celebrate and spotlight the people behind the pots. Supported by Art Fund, the ‘People of Wedgwood’ project collects the memories and social history of Wedgwood from current and former employees, to enrich our vast collection of objects, manuscripts and photographs. The project will gather personal recollections to help future generations understand and appreciate the many people of Wedgwood.
Curator-led museum tours
Monthly 1 hour
£7
Join a V&A curator on a bespoke tour of the galleries to delve deeper into the history of Wedgwood told through highlights in the collection. If you want to immerse yourself in the incredible story of Wedgwood and discover more about the V&A’s projects, then this is the tour for you.