Around 70-90% of museum collections around the world are kept in storage . Often housed in buildings far away from their public institution, they represent a picture of hidden cultural and historical resources.
Remote storage often presents logistical and cost challenges to enabling public access to collections, and it remains an area of museum work that is easy to overlook by management, funders and policymakers. However, new projects are once again drawing attention to the value of access to both the collections and the decisions that are made about them.
In May of this year an exciting new addition to London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opened its doors to the public. Occupying a spot between four of the London 2012 Olympic Boroughs (Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest), the V&A East Storehouse is part museum, cultural centre, archive and leisure destination. It is the latest addition to a growing family of V&A sites.
