The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC has scaled down plans to set up a London base. It had been considering an ambitious venture to establish an outpost in a new cultural quarter on the site of the 2012 Olympic Games in Stratford, east London—dubbed Olympicopolis. Instead the Smithsonian is now going for a more modest scheme, using space in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s new building, which will be known as V&A East.
On 13 June, the Smithsonian’s secretary David Skorton announced the long-awaited decision. “This would not be a ‘Smithsonian outpost in London’”, he said. Instead it will be “a collaboration with the V&A”. The gallery space is to be developed jointly by the Smithsonian and the V&A, with the Washington institution staging its own exhibitions as part of V&A East’s overall programme.
Details of how the collaboration will work are now being discussed. The Art Newspaper understands, however, that roughly a quarter of the space of V&A East will be devoted to collaborative ventures with the Smithsonian. This will probably be a jointly organised permanent display, with some space for temporary exhibitions.
This will be the first time in the Smithsonian’s 170-year history that it has created a permanent gallery presence overseas. “With the V&A in London, we can build bridges to other countries and continents and share our work with the world”, Skorton said. The Smithsonian’s London displays will draw on the collections of its 19 museums, most of which are in Washington.
London schemes In January last year, the Smithsonian began discussions to set up an ambitious London outpost. This idea was enthusiastically backed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London until last month. Progress has been slow, however, because of the Smithsonian’s concerns about a major financial commitment. Decision-making is also more difficult for the Smithsonian during a US election year.
In London there has been growing frustration that the Smithsonian was hesitating over the commitment and it was feared that this could end up impacting on the wider Olympicopolis project. Now that the Smithsonian has decided against taking a separate building, this potentially leaves space that could be available for other UK institutions, such as the British Museum.
The Smithsonian’s commitment for a shared space in V&A East has now been welcomed by Johnson’s successor, Labour’s Sadiq Khan. “Growing London’s cultural sector is one of my core priorities as mayor, so I welcome this trans-Atlantic collaboration between two of the world’s most prestigious institutions”, he said.
In addition to V&A East, there will be separate buildings at Olympicopolis for the University of the Arts London and Sadler’s Wells, a dance venue. The full cost of the project is estimated at £850m. Fundraising is being led by an English charity, the Foundation for FutureLondon. Building work on Olympicopolis could start in 2018, for completion in 2021.
