Library Resources Blog Posts: Spotlight on

Spotlight on: Victoria and Albert Museum & Exhibition catalogues at UR Library

The V&A is the world’s largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design. It is also the home of the National Art Library, which is one of the four world class art libraries.

This wonderful museum is part of a cluster in South Kensington, just a short journey from Roehampton. If you hop on the 430 bus (from Danebury Avenue) it drops you at the door. Most of the museum is free. Wander around the galleries and discover all sorts of unusual and beautiful spaces like the ceramics gallery and workshop at the top of the building. The large exhibitions are lively and detailed, and each one is beautifully curated and unique. And here at Roehampton, if you want to discover these gems past and present, we are lucky enough to be able to view and borrow the catalogues that accompany the exhibitions at UR Library.

The V&A has large collections of costumes so there are frequent shows on fashion themes, ranging from the traditional work of classic Dior haute couture to the ground-breaking fashion of Mary Quant, while also exploring the importance of fabric and design in cultural identity and independence in Africa Fashion.

For book lovers, occasionally there is a celebration of the printed page. Recently Beatrix Potter was showcased, not only as the author and illustrator of her famous children's books featuring animals (many of which we have in the library’s Children’s Literature Collection), but also for her ground-breaking work in preserving the rural landscape for us all. Winnie the Pooh was born from the heartbreak of the First World war, in which both author A. A. Milne and his illustrator E. H. Shepard served. The V & A  held a wonderful exhibition, aimed at the whole family and full of playful engagement for small children. Recently there was Alice, a celebration of the Alice in Wonderland books which were influential not only in their time but also impacted on  many subsequent artistic movements, including both the surrealist and the psychedelic in the sixties, as celebrated in the hit ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane.

There is a range and depth to the exhibitions that is very satisfying, always an element of surprise in their eclectic choices; from the art and design of Videogames like The Last of Us, to the place of big farming in food production and environmental degradation in Food bigger than the plate. The latter advocated for closing the loop, roof top farms, workers' rights and innovative compost solutions to Bangalore’s food refuse problem with beautiful terracotta compost bins.

We move from the history of travel in Ocean Liners with beautiful furniture, tableware and insightful posters, to the role of innovation in The Future starts here, meandering on to Cars, pausing to celebrate icons like David Bowie and moving on to the joyful Hallyu -The Korean Wave, which included the bathroom set from the film Parasite.

My personal favourite though, was the Frida Kahlo exhibition that came all the way from the blue house in Mexico. Frida Kahlo’s husband Diego Rivera locked up the house on her death and everything was left in place for many years. This allowed the creation of an exquisite exhibition full of artefacts from the anthropology of her life, all her make- up, hairbrushes, empty perfume bottles, clothes and shawls as well as her wonderful paintings. It is the inclusion of these elements of the everyday that give the exhibitions their vitality.

Browse and enjoy these wonderful exhibition catalogues.

Written by Julie Eastman, Library Adviser