Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A or VAM) in the United Kingdom is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 as the "Museum of Manufactures", and subsequently renamed in honour of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The V&A's original South Kensington site is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert through the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free.

In addition to the South Kensington site, the museum's collection is housed in the following locations: * V&A Dundee, which opened in 2018 * Young V&A, the former Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London * V&A Wedgwood Collection, the former Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent acquired in 2014 * V&A East Storehouse, opened in June 2025 A sixth venue, the V&A East Museum is due to open in April 2026.

The main South Kensington site covers and has 145 galleries. "Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day" and includes works from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, including art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are particularly strong in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world.

The museum holds one of the largest collections of post-classical sculpture, with its collection of Italian Renaissance sculpture being the largest outside Italy, however, the art of antiquity in most areas is not the V&A's focus. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, jewellery, silver, metalwork, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints, drawings, and photographs are also among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

Overall, the V&A is one of the world's largest museums. Provided by Wikipedia