V&A sets 2027 exhibition slate from South Asian art to punk

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum network has unveiled its 2027 exhibition schedule. The programme spans its South Kensington flagship, the newly opening V&A East, and its Dundee outpost in Scotland.

The new V&A East in Stratford, which opens in April 2026 near the institution's new storehouse location, will host South Asia Now: Fashion. Art. Design. on 24 April 2027. Featuring more than 200 works, the museum bills it as “the first major international exhibition to showcase the extraordinary breadth of creativity rooted in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka”.

This geographic focus aligns with the institution's strategy for the Stratford site. “At V&A East, and across our two sites, we’re deeply embedded in our local communities. We’re locally rooted with a global outlook,” said director Gus Casely-Hayford. Sri Lankan designer Amesh Wijesekera is among the first confirmed participants.

At South Kensington, Punk to Pop opens on 13 March 2027. The museum statement describes “an immersive exhibition that will re-examine the rich and eclectic creative explosion across music, art and fashion from 1972–1985”. It will feature around 300 objects, including stage costumes and photography, to examine how bands like Joy Division, Sex Pistols and Wham! became global icons.

The London site will also stage Sculpture in Clay on 29 May 2027, looking at unconventional uses of ceramics by British artists including Antony Gormley and Edmund de Waal. In September, the Chintz exhibition will examine South Indian fabric through the holdings of collector Karun Thakar. The museum stated the show will treat chintz “not as a consumer product, but as a form of art alike to other forms of painting and drawing”.

In Scotland, V&A Dundee will open Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery on 26 March 2027. Created by Vivienne Westwood Ltd and produced by touring company Nomad Exhibitions, the show highlights the commercial potential of the late designer's archive. It focuses on jewellery as “a powerful and integral part of her designs” and explores her connection with Scotland, following an extensive V&A retrospective in 2004.

For the broader European cultural sector, the 2027 slate underscores how major institutions are relying on internationally recognisable pop-culture brands and diaspora-focused programming to sustain visitor numbers. The involvement of external production companies like Nomad Exhibitions also points to the increasingly commercialised model of travelling museum shows.