As people start flocking to the V&A East this week, Gus Casley-Hayford has a very specific vision for how he wants people to experience this new bastion of British art in the heart of East London. It is very simple. ‘We want people to come here and dream.’ The director wants people to ‘put themselves in the shoes of the creators and think about their own creative futures, the places they Travel For, the creators that they can meet and the person that they can become.
It’s a noble aim, and one that connects directly with East London’s cultural history. Over the generations, this corner of the capital has welcomed waves of migration, each bringing new forms of expression, knowledge and a distinctive aesthetic. For Gus, director of the new V&A East, this is not just accidental history, but the very fabric of the museum and the fundamental reason why the latest outpost of a world-leading institution is located in Stratford.
‘For centuries, East London was the first place for immigrants to come,’ he explains. ‘With them, they brought wonderful traditions, but they also opened up the local community to the world’s cultural complexities and the brilliance that can come from hybridity and combination.’ This exchange – and tension – transformed the area into a crucible of creativity and cultural vibrancy, becoming a testing ground for some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary artists.
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