V&A East Storehouse Walk with Celia Higson 19th March & 22nd April 2026

V&A East Storehouse Walks

with Celia Higson

Guided Tour

19th March & 22nd April 2026

Limited to 10 places only

To celebrate the first year of the opening of the V&A East, Artemisia is organising two curated walks of the artworks, objects and architecture on show. The storehouse opened in May 2025 and offers a completely unique museum experience, allowing visitors to encounter artworks in unexpected groupings within their storage cabinets, set inside a large, multi-storey hall.

Celia will guide you through her personal highlights. Architecturally, these include the remarkable five-column Agra Colonnade, viewed from a glass platform above and richly carved with scrolling floral motifs and inlaid with stones, alongside the Frank Lloyd Wright Kaufmann Office, the only complete Wright interior outside the United States. Nearby sits the three-storey fragment of Robin Hood Gardens, the iconic brutalist council housing estate, preserved to allow visitors to experience the Smithsons’ “streets in the sky” concept.

Mixed amongst these large architectural structures are gems of costume, furniture, sculpture and artworks. We will see eighteenth-century versions of some classics, including a Laocoön bust and a Venus (after Titian). A particular highlight will come from comparing a travertine sculpture by Najla el Zein from 2019 with a terracotta Virgin and Child by Andrea della Robbia from 1485. We will also look at objects through the lens of the V&A ‘s new museum practices and discuss the history of collecting.

Celia is an experienced AHA tutor who has also worked in the contemporary art world and led trips to Italy, France, Spain and India.

Please meet at 10:20am for a 10:30am start inside the foyer of V&A East, please note you need to put all bags into lockers before we go in. We will finish around 1pm with a break for coffee. Please do join us afterwards for lunch at Barge East.