London Design Festival has just started and the V&A Museum will once again surprise the public with installations, talks and exhibitions about design and technology. For the occasion, we interviewed Victoria Broackers, curator of all the London Design Festival initiatives held at the museum. Besides her recommendations about what should not be missed, she explains that design is the key to everything.
LDF and V&A together once again. This year, the museum is actually the official destination of the festival. How did this collaboration grow throughout the years?
During the last 9 editions of the London Design Festival (out of a total of 15), we have been its epicentre. We hosted numerous installations and always had a wide and varying programme of talks and events, including some memorable parties. We are honoured that our partnership is even stronger in this edition. Our aim is to present London as one of the world’s largest creative capitals; and with more than 400 events all around the city – divided into districts – it won’t be too hard. This year, the V&A Museum is once again the centre of the design world and is a union, inspiration and meeting point. It engages an eclectic variety of visitors, from designers to leaders in the sector, from firms to producers, and ultimately the public, including students, design lovers and families.
What message are you sending to the public?
All the skills, knowledge and technologies they will see at London Design Festival are there to stress that the work of designers is still essential in our world. It’s about how we will live the future. Design is the key to everything.
The three things one must see at the V&A Museum?
It’s really hard to pick my favourites: each corner of the museum will be full of installations and pieces of art. But if I have to pick three, I’d say the 3D structure by Ross Lovergrove in Alcantara®, Petr Stanicky’s sculptures in blind fiberglass and While We Wait, an installation by Elias and Yousef Anastas, a free-standing stone structure inspired by the Cremisan Valley in Palestine.
What about outside the museum?
A stroll around the different districts is a must. Moreover, you should not miss Design Frontier at Somerset House. It’s an exhibition that gathers more than 30 international designers who are pushing design boundaries further creating spectacular projects looking at the future.
Talking about the future, what’s V&A’s view?
We hold this in high regard. To us, future means two things: craftsmanship and technology. For what concerns the first, every year, we have our craftsmanship prize Woman's Hour Craft, where craftsmen present their creations – from miniatures boxes to bikes. The second one, instead, explains why we collaborated to the creation of big installations such as Reflection Room and Transmission. They show how new materials and technologies can be combined to bring progress and improvements to our daily life.
You will also display the world’s first bionic chandelier…
Yes, Exhale, an installation by Julian Melchiorri that will combine photosynthesis with advanced technologies. The chandelier will be placed in the V&A lobby, accessible from the new, recently opened Sackler Road. On the metallic ‘arms’ of the chandelier, there will be delicate leaf-shaped tubes. Filled with micro-seaweed, the chandelier leafs will try to purify the surrounding air with the photosynthesis, just like a real plant. It’s an incredible concept, it could be the beginning of something big.
londondesignfestival.com/va-museum
At the opening: VICTORIA BROACKES, CURATRICE DI TUTTE LE ATTIVITÀ CHE SI SVOLGERANNO ALL'INTERNO DEL V&A MUSEUM DURANTE IL LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2017.
