V&A East Museum · Stratford
Towards A Civic Museum, Tania Bruguera
This exhibition has ended.
A commissioned work developed through conversations between artist Tania Bruguera and east London youth, presented as a stained-glass statement of shared principles about what it means for a museum to serve its community.
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At the base of the glass, seed shapes hold the names of the young people who wrote it. Above them runs a map of east London: the Thames and the Lea, a flower where the museum stands, and a fox painted in silver stain.
The text is a contract the V&A East Youth Collective drafted with Cuban artist Tania Bruguera before the museum opened. It asks for a museum that "resists urban displacement" and "prioritises people over investments". Glassmaker Richard Paton doubled up the lead so the words fit inside the stems and riverbanks. The flowers start from Walthamstow-born William Morris and pick up Persian, South Asian and West African patterns. The fox stayed after discussion with the Youth Collective: the one east London fox nobody chases off the bins.
It is a single work at the museum's threshold, on the Lower Ground. It faces west, so you see colour inside by day, and after dark the words read from outside. Free, until Sunday 18 October.
Look for
The fox
Look for an east London fox among the flowers, painted in silver stain, an old glass-painting technique, and kept in after discussion with the Youth Collective.
The name seeds
At the base of the work, seed-shaped forms each hold the name of a contributor who helped write the text.
The map
The Thames and the River Lea orient a map of east London, roads run across it as lines, and a large flower marks the museum.
Words in the lead
The contract is written along doubled-up lead lines that form stems and riverbanks, wide enough to read from inside and outside the building.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You want a full exhibition: this is one stained-glass work at the museum's entrance.
Also at V&A East Museum
On now nearby
Image credits
3
- Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier© LANZA atelier. Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy Serpentine.
- The Wallace Collection at WarCourtesy of Wallace Collection
- Jesús Rafael Soto: Pénétrable BBL Jaune© Jesús Rafael Soto / ADAGP, Paris 2026. Courtesy Atelier Soto, Paris and Galerie Perrotin. Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Serpentine