‘Horrible’ disparity emerging in cultural education in schools, says V&A head

A “horrible disparity” is opening between state and private schools in the provision of creative education, the director of the V&A, one of the country’s leading museums, has said.

Speaking at the launch of the Young V&A museum, aimed at children from birth to 14 years, Tristram Hunt said creative education was being downgraded or excluded in many state schools, leading to a 60% fall in the numbers of young people taking art and design subjects at GCSE.

“This is a real problem, and there’s a social inequity here because the private sector is not closing its theatres and art studios, its kilns are still producing ceramics.

“So we’re seeing a horrible disparity emerging between the state and the private sector in terms of provision for cultural education.”

Young V&A, which opens on 1 July after a three-year, £13m redevelopment of the former Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, could help fill the gap in state school provision, Hunt added.

More than 2,000 objects from the V&A’s collections, dating from 2,300BCE to today and from all over the world, have been put on display at the Grade II*-listed Victorian building. They are exhibited at child height in three galleries focused on play, imagination and design.

About two-thirds of the objects have undergone conservation ahead of the museum’s opening. A 19th-century plaster lion statuette has been cleaned, an owl puppet has had surgery on moth-damaged feathers, and a delicate clown nose made from a ping-pong ball has been reshaped and stabilised.

The original skylights, that were painted on both sides, and arched windows have been uncovered and a 19th-century marble mosaic floor has been restored and revealed.

More than 22,000 schoolchildren, teachers, community groups and local families contributed ideas to the project. The end result is the “UK’s first national museum created with and for young people”, said Hunt.

“By continuing to work in partnership with teachers and schools, locally and across the country, [Young V&A] will become a national resource for supporting the teaching of art and design.”

The V&A team asked children what they wanted from a museum, and drew on their ideas for displays and activities. Despite a “lot of interest in getting live animals in”, according to one curator, tigers failed to make the cut.

Shreshti and Zoya, both 13-year-old pupils at the Ursuline academy in Ilford, east London, contributed to the design gallery, conceived for older children. It explores how items were designed, made and used – such as a LifeStraw which makes unsafe water drinkable – and offers activities, workshops and collaborations with contemporary designers.

The gallery was “a great way to show how DT [design and technology] skills can be taken out into the real world and used to make something inspiring”, said Zoya. Shreshti said she was now considering a career in design.

In the play gallery, aimed at the youngest visitors, an iridescent cosmetic tray in the shape of a fish, dating from about 1550-1077BC Egypt, illustrates the letter F in an alphabet of objects. “It would have been easy to create a soft play environment, but we wanted our collections at the gallery’s heart,” said its curator.

Lucy Frazer, the UK culture secretary, said: “Young V&A is going to encourage countless young people to dream big and unlock their creativity. We want to maximise the potential of our creative industries with a pipeline of talented young people and this space, dedicated to art, design and performance, will inspire young people to pursue creative careers in the future.”

Young V&A opens on Saturday 1 July, admission free