V&A East Launches Recruitment for 2027 Youth Collective: Shaping the Future of East London’s Cultural Landscape

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has issued a call to action for the next generation of East London’s cultural leaders. Young people aged 16 to 24 living in the boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest are being invited to apply for the latest cohort of the V&A East Youth Collective. This unique programme, designed to place local youth at the heart of the institution’s decision-making processes, aims to ensure that the newly established V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse remain resonant, inclusive, and deeply connected to the communities they serve.

Applications for the 2027 programme are scheduled to open on Friday, October 16, 2026, with the official application portal becoming available on the V&A East website. Prospective candidates have until Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. to submit their interest. The initiative is specifically seeking 12 curious and passionate individuals who are eager to influence how the institution engages with its local audience and reflects the diverse experiences of young people in the area.

A Mission of Co-Production and Creative Inquiry

The core question driving this year’s Youth Collective is both fundamental and ambitious: What should a museum and a collections space look, feel, and sound like for young people in East London? To answer this, the V&A East team is assembling a group of creative thinkers to work in close partnership with professional practitioners and museum staff. The programme is built on the principle of co-production, ensuring that the museum is not merely a place of exhibition, but a site of active learning and community exchange.

Over the course of an eight-month programme, participants will engage in a series of creative workshops and site visits. The curriculum is designed to be responsive, evolving based on the interests and themes identified by the participants themselves. Building on the foundations laid by previous cohorts, which explored complex topics such as identity, memory, belonging, place, access, and decolonisation, the new group will be tasked with integrating the concepts of "creative wellbeing" and "care" into the museum’s public-facing operations.

This collaborative effort will culminate in the creation of a public-facing output, allowing the Youth Collective to leave a tangible mark on the museum’s institutional identity. By centering the voices of young East Londoners, the programme seeks to foster a learning exchange where the institution learns as much from the participants as the participants learn from the institution.

Practical Engagement and Professional Development

The V&A East Youth Collective is structured to balance academic and creative inquiry with professional development. Participants can expect to gain invaluable insight into careers within the cultural sector, network with peers, and sharpen their creative skills through hands-on projects. The programme is intensive, requiring attendance at 16 evening meetings held on alternating Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. These sessions, which run from January 2027 through August 2027, will be held in person across East London.

In addition to the regular Thursday sessions, the programme will feature occasional weekend activities, off-site trips, and immersive days spent behind the scenes at the museum. The first official session is scheduled for Thursday, January 14, 2027, at the V&A East Storehouse. The V&A has noted that to ensure accessibility and professional recognition, participants will be compensated for their contributions, provided they possess the legal right to work in the United Kingdom.

The Evolution of V&A East

The recruitment of the Youth Collective comes as V&A East continues to solidify its identity as a dynamic, two-part cultural destination in East London. As a branch of the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A East is uniquely positioned to celebrate the act of making and to create new possibilities for artistic engagement.

The V&A East Museum, located in Stratford, is described as a site dedicated to the power of creativity to inspire change. It is intentionally rooted in the heritage of East London, aiming to amplify the voices that currently lead contemporary culture. By working with the Youth Collective, the museum hopes to ensure that its exhibitions and public programming remain relevant to the specific needs and desires of the local youth population.

Complementing the museum is the V&A East Storehouse, also situated near the Stratford Waterfront. This facility is a massive repository, housing over half a million creative works and collection objects. Unlike traditional storage facilities, the Storehouse is designed to be publicly accessible, offering visitors an immersive experience where large-scale collection objects and curated displays tell stories that are meant to be engaging and accessible to all audiences.

Opportunities to Connect

For those interested in learning more about the programme before the application deadline, V&A East is hosting a public event on Sunday, October 18, 2026. Taking place at the V&A Storehouse between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., the event will offer prospective applicants the chance to meet former Youth Collective members and industry professionals.

The event is designed to be an interactive taster of the programme’s atmosphere. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in risograph printing, view short film screenings, and listen to panel discussions that explore the intersection of youth engagement and museum practice. It serves as a vital touchpoint for anyone curious about how they can ensure that young people in East London remain at the heart of the institution’s future trajectory.

The V&A East engagement team encourages anyone with questions to reach out directly via their contact email, [email protected]. As the application window approaches, the institution continues to emphasize that the success of the Youth Collective depends entirely on the enthusiasm and diverse perspectives of the young people who join the team. By providing a platform for critical and conceptual learning, V&A East is not just building a museum; it is building a space for the next generation of creative leaders to define the culture of East London on their own terms.