Young V&A wins Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024

Young V&A, the children’s museum in east London, was announced as the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024 at an awards ceremony in London’s National Gallery last night.

One of five sites in the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) family, the Bethnal Green institution reopened a year ago following a child-led £13m redevelopment that saw it transformed from a museum of childhood into a museum “for children”.

Co-created with children from early years to teens, the venue is intended to be the “most joyful museum in the world”, offering young people a space to imagine, play and design. It features almost 2,000 toys, characters, objects and artworks on display from around the world and across history.

The museum offers three permanent galleries, Play, Imagine and Design, a temporary exhibition space, restored Grade II listed architectural features, improved retail and café spaces, new accessible routes and facilities, including a Changing Places Toilet, and an enhanced and expanded Clore Learning Centre and Creative Studios. 

It welcomed more than 590,000 people in the first nine months of opening – a 223% increase on the V&A Museum of Childhood’s figures for the same period in 2019/20.

The museum saw off competition from four other finalists: Craven Museum in North Yorkshire, Dundee Contemporary Arts, the National Portrait Gallery and Manchester Museum. They will each receive an award of £15,000.

The £120,000 prize was presented to Young V&A director Helen Charman by broadcaster Vick Hope, who was on this year’s judging panel.

Chaired by Art Fund director Jenny Waldman, the judging panel also included: Anupam Ganguli, finance director at Historic Royal Palaces, artist Tania Kovats, and John Leighton, former director-general of National Galleries of Scotland. The judges visited each of the finalists to inform their decision-making.

Hope said: “I was inspired by the museum’s vision to become a space for the next generation to feel empowered and to imagine their future; a space that will cement museums as places they belong and feel welcome as they grow up, regardless of their background.”

Charman said: “We’re thrilled to win Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024 and to have been part of a shortlist of such brilliant museums changing lives across the UK.”

• 'Fun and informative' - read the review of Young V&A in Museums Journal

“This win is a clarion call for the vital role of creativity, culture and play in children’s lives when so many opportunities have been taken away through the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing under-investment in creative education nationally.”

Charman said the museum would use the prize money to build on its community programme for early-years providers. The institution will work in partnership with caregivers, artists, museum professionals and early years educators to expand its work in this area and create new cultural and playful learning experiences.

“We recognise the positive impact creative experiences in early years has on young people’s futures - and that’s why we’ll be investing the prize money in founding a creative network and programme for early years providers along the Thames Estuary, where a higher proportion of children live in low-income households than the England average,” she said.

The museum plans to celebrate the win along with its first birthday at a party on Saturday 13 July. 

Newly appointed culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: “Our world-leading museums are a source of creativity and curiosity that can inspire lifelong passions for learning, history and the arts.

"This year's Art Fund Museum of the Year was a tough competition with an exciting shortlist representing institutions from across the country. Congratulations to the Young V&A on this achievement, recognising their hard work to create a unique space dedicated to young people."

Waldman said the museum had “radically reimagined the museum with and for young people” and created a museum experience “that’s active, empowering and dynamic, centred on learning through play”.

She added: “I give my warmest congratulations to the fantastic team at Young V&A on being crowned Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024. You truly are the world’s most joyful museum and will inspire young people now and for generations to come.”

Art Fund continued its partnership with the BBC this year to broadcast the ceremony.

The £180,000 prize pot is funded by Art Fund members.