V&A East launches with debut exhibition exploring Black British music

V&A East has announced that tickets are now on sale for its inaugural exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, opening on Saturday 18 April 2026 at the new V&A East Museum on East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The landmark, multi-sensory exhibition explores the profound influence of Black artistry on British music and culture over the past 125 years, celebrating the voices, talent and global impact of Black British music-makers. It will also launch The Music Is Black Festival in summer 2026, delivered in partnership with BBC Music and East Bank cultural organisations.

Soulla Petrou, Mis-Teeq, 2003 © Photo by Soulla Petrou.

Spanning more than a century, the exhibition traces music rooted in African musical traditions and shaped by enslavement, colonialism, migration and innovation. It reveals how British-born Black genres such as lovers rock, Brit funk, 2 tone, jungle, drum & bass, trip hop, UK garage and grime emerged and transformed British identity, while influencing music scenes around the world. The exhibition is framed as both a celebration of creativity and joy, and a reflection on the social and political histories that underpin Black British musical expression.

Harry Hammond, Sister Rosetta Tharpe performing at Drury Lane Theatre, 1959 © Photo by Harry Hammond.

The Music is Black: A British Story is presented across four distinct sections, bringing together an immersive soundscape with multimedia installations and more than 200 objects, including 60 new acquisitions to the V&A collection. Highlights range from Winifred Atwell’s piano and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s early 20th-century musical batons to Jme’s Super Nintendo used for his early music experiments, alongside iconic fashion worn by artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Little Simz, Seal and Skin. Newly acquired photographs of Kemistry and Storm, Mis-Teeq and Skepta sit alongside personal instruments, writings and artworks by leading artists from across the African diaspora.

Syd Shelton, Against Racism during The Specials’ set, Potternewton Park, Leeds, 1981 Gelatin silver print, printed 2012 ©Photo by Syd Shelton.

Curated by Jacqueline Springer, the exhibition aims to deepen understanding of Black British music and its lasting legacy. V&A East Director Gus Casely-Hayford described the show as a defining statement for the new museum, positioning east London as a vital home of musical innovation. Opening alongside sister venue V&A East Storehouse, the museum forms part of East Bank, one of the UK’s most ambitious cultural developments of the past decade, created as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy.

Date: 18 April 2026 - 3 January 2027. Location: V&A East Museum, 107 Carpenters Rd, Stratford Cross, London, E20 2AR.  Price:  for students and those under 26 from £10. Full price from Weekday £22.50 / Weekend £24.50.

Tickets for V&A East Museum’s first exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, are available to purchase here