Young residents aged 16 to 24 living across Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest are being given a unique opportunity to help shape the direction of East London’s newest cultural destinations. The V&A East has officially announced that applications for the next cohort of its flagship Youth Collective will open later this autumn, inviting passionate and creative individuals to leave a lasting mark on the development of both the V&A East Museum and the V&A East Storehouse.
The initiative aims to answer a fundamental question: what should a museum and collections space look, feel, and sound like for young people living in East London today? To explore this, organizers are assembling a diverse team of curious, creative, and passionate participants to work collaboratively alongside the V&A East team and commissioned creative practitioners.
Applications for the upcoming cohort are scheduled to open on Friday, 16th October 2026, with the dedicated application link going live on the museum’s website on that day. Prospective applicants will have until Sunday, 1st November 2026, at 11:59 pm to submit their applications. Selected participants will join a 12-person cohort representing the rich cultural and social diversity of the local area.
The Youth Collective programme offers young people a platform to share their ideas, opinions, and lived experiences to ensure that local communities remain at the heart of the institution’s future. Over an intensive eight-month journey running from January to August 2027, participants will take part in a series of collaborative creative workshops, behind-the-scenes visits, and museum-based sessions.
The structure of the programme has been designed to fit around participants’ existing commitments while fostering deep engagement. Members of the collective will attend 16 evening meetings held on alternating Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in person across East London, beginning with the first introductory session on Thursday, 14th January 2027, at the V&A East Storehouse. In addition to these bi-weekly evening gatherings, the schedule will feature occasional weekend activities, immersive cultural trips, and dedicated days spent exploring the museum spaces.
The curriculum for the upcoming cohort will build directly upon the critical themes explored by previous Youth Collective groups. Past discussions have touched upon wide-ranging topics including identity, memory, belonging, place, access, and decolonisation. Building on these foundations, the new cohort will be invited to consult specifically on how the institution can embed creative wellbeing and holistic care for young audiences within its physical and conceptual spaces.
This collaborative exploration will ultimately culminate in the production of a tangible creative output, which will be shared publicly with museum audiences. Rather than operating as a traditional top-down educational course, the programme functions as a genuine learning exchange between the participants, visiting practitioners, and the institution itself, placing co-production at the core of everything it achieves.
For those selected, the benefits extend far beyond artistic creation. Participants can expect to build meaningful connections with peers from across the four boroughs, develop valuable creative and conceptual skills, and gain firsthand insight into potential career pathways within the wider cultural and heritage sector.
The initiative is deeply intertwined with the identity and mission of V&A East, a dynamic two-part cultural destination established as a prominent new branch of the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum. Designed to celebrate making and unlock creative possibilities, V&A East is rooted firmly in East London’s rich industrial and cultural heritage while championing the voices that drive contemporary culture forward.
The project encompasses two distinct sites situated in the heart of Stratford. The V&A East Museum, based in Stratford itself, is envisioned as a space that celebrates making and explores the profound power of creativity to drive societal change. Created in active collaboration with young people, the museum examines the forces shaping the modern world through the lens of contemporary culture and local heritage.
Just a short distance away near the Stratford Waterfront stands the V&A East Storehouse. This innovative public facility houses over half a million creative works and collection objects, making them publicly accessible to visitors in a novel and immersive way. Featuring large-scale collection objects and curated displays, the Storehouse invites audiences of all backgrounds to engage with a rich tapestry of stories and narratives.
To help prospective applicants learn more about the programme before the application window opens, V&A East is hosting a free public event on Sunday, 18th October, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the V&A East Storehouse. The afternoon will feature talks and discussions from alumni of previous V&A East youth engagement programmes alongside creative practitioners currently working in the field. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with peers, participate in hands-on risograph printing workshops, watch short film screenings, and listen to panel discussions. Further details about the practitioners leading the upcoming project will also be unveiled around the opening of the application window in October.
Organizers have emphasized that applicants must be aged between 16 and 24, reside within Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, or Waltham Forest, and possess the legal right to work in the UK in order to receive payment for their participation. Anyone with questions regarding the application process or the programme structure can reach out directly to the engagement team via email at [email protected].