The V&A Museum Of Childhood Is Closing For Two Years For This Huge Revamp

The main hall will be reimagined into The Town Square

The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green will close for two year from this May — ahead of a £13m transformation.

Mock-ups of the revamped museum, from AOC Architecture, depict a brighter, lighter space; the main hall is reimagined as an inviting 'town square' with a 'kaleidoscopic staircase' linking the ground floor with the upper level. A 125-person-capacity performance space, The Stage, meanwhile, will host family activities, and give children a space to perform their own shows.

The Stage will be a space for children to perform their own shows

Three new galleries will welcome visitors when the museum reopens in 2022. 'Imagine' will trace the myths, fables and inspirations behind famous characters like Paddington Bear, Pikachu and the Loch Ness Monster, while inviting visitors to explore Alice in Wonderland-inspired fantasy rooms, filled with optical illusions.

Paddington Bear will feature in the 'Imagine' section of the revamped museum

'Play' will feature a series of interactive displays, sandpits and an area dedicated to pre-walkers, with textured displays for sensory exploration. Games from chess through to the crowdfunded card game Exploding Kittens and the mobile app Monument Valley will be available to play.

The Monument Valley game will be available to play alongside traditional ones, like chess

At the heart of the museum's new 'Design' area will be The Designer's House; a space for artists and schoolchildren to work together. In all, the museum plans to be far more interactive and hands-on for children than it is in its current incarnation.

An original Superman costume will be on display

Among new exhibits at the revamped museum will be Hollywood props and costumes including the original Superman costume and Frankenstein's Monster, and Mary Poppins's magical umbrella from the 1964 Disney film.

Other exhibits will include Beatrix Potter's illustrations of the world of Peter Rabbit, the life-size West End War Horse puppet Joey, and designs by innovative artists Virgil Abloh and Olafur Eliasson.

'Design' will feature an open studio, where children and their families will be able to experiment through hands-on making.

Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said:

We want to empower children to realise that every act of creativity is wondrous, whether it's self-expression through their clothes, building a world on Minecraft, or launching a school climate strike. By bringing together the V&A's world-class collections with immersive displays anchored in children's every-day lives, we will offer an outstanding day out for families, for free.

'Play' will feature multi- sensory landscapes, and a large-scale sandpit, helping the youngest visitors explore the collection. There will also be a full-gallery length alphabet display

The museum's final weekend before its closure will be a three-day free, festival over the first May bank holiday, called Re-Invent. It will feature live performances and a specially commissioned artist installation. Doors then close on 11 May 2020, for regeneration works to begin.

In the interim, the Museum of Childhood will put on a two-year programme of free activities for families at Whitechapel's Idea Store.

'Imagine' will feature and Alice in Wonderland-inspired space with optical illusions, and see seven interconnected rooms celebrating the power of storytelling and self-expression

The news comes after the National Portrait Gallery announced a three-year closure, starting in June.

Images © AOC Architecture and V&A

A Visit to Valrhona’s Irresistible Cité du Chocolat

Gillian and the Chocolate Factory… Correspondent Gillian Thornton throws calories to the wind at Valrhona’s discovery centre

France has never been coy about its love affair with the cacao bean. Every town seems to have its own scrumptious speciality, but the absolute last word in French chocolate is Valrhona.

The Chocolaterie du Vivarais opened in 1922 at Tain-l’Hermitage in the Drôme – a town also famous for its wine – with the Valrhona brand following in 1947. Today Valrhona is revered by professional chefs and chocoholics across the world. And in 2013, the company opened the Cité du Chocolat, an interactive discovery centre showcasing the history, raw materials and manufacturing process of France’s favourite chocolate, plus, of course, the mouth-watering finished product.

And yes, ‘interactive’ involves plenty of tasting opportunities! A waist-expanding five tonnes are consumed by Cité du Chocolat’s 130,000 visitors every year.

Valrhona’s Cité du Chocolat

Strategically placed dispensers deliver chocolate lozenges in all colours, and not just the traditional dark, milk, and white. In 2012, Valrhona created chocolate’s fourth dimension with the wonderful Dulcey ‘caramel’ flavour.

There’s no right or wrong way to tour the building, so if, like me, your arrival coincides with one of the 1,000 groups who visit each year, you can easily slip into a quieter zone.

JOURNEY TO THE TROPICS

The Sensory Studio invites visitors to use their five senses as they explore tastes and shapes, colours and textures. Or you can linger in the Recipe Bar to discover classic ingredients and flavours.

I particularly liked the atmospheric Cocoa Farms section, where lovers of the sweet stuff take a virtual journey to the Tropics to find out about cacao tree varieties, farm work and sustainability. Sit on wooden packing cases beneath a canopy of trees whilst lizards, snakes and other jungle creatures walk, crawl and slither across the walls and floor thanks to some ingenious projection.

Valrhona’s Cité du Chocolat. Photo: Ph Barret

This is an attraction for all age groups and levels of interest. Lili and Zoco, the Cité du Chocolat mascots, guide younger visitors around, with special experiences and games to play. And children aged seven to 13 can take part in baking workshops to make lollipops and other goodies.

When they need a break, they can read, draw or play on tablets in the Île O Petits kids’ island. The Cité doesn’t forget the grown-ups, either, with the chance to book creative courses and discovery workshops, and learn by osmosis from expert bakers, veteran pastry chefs and consummate chocolatiers.

And when the free lozenges just aren’t enough, the Comptoir Porcelana self-service restaurant offers chocolate cakes and desserts, but also surprising savoury combinations like duck with dark chocolate, and seafood paired with Dulcey.

I would normally groan at being steered through a shop on the way to the exit, but this time I uttered not a peep. The Boutique Valrhona is temptation itself, packed with boxes, bars and bags for all budgets. Lovely to buy as gifts, but oh-so-much nicer to keep for yourself!

For more information, head to www.citeduchocolat.com

From France Today magazine

Valrhona’s Cité du Chocolat

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