Behind the scenes at the V&A
INTERVIEW: I speak to Sophie Brendel about the new series of Secrets of the Museum
This newsletter was sent to subscribers on 20 July 2021
Hello once more!
I do love a good podcast, and I imagine many of you do too. I’ve mentioned previously in this newsletter how museums are really getting in on the podcast game recently, so I’m delighted to have been able to profile one of the biggest new launches in an article for the website Jing Culture & Commerce. My piece looks at why the Science Museum turned to podcasts to tell the story of stuff, and you can read it here. Do let me know what you think!
The V&A on the other hand have turned to more traditional media to tell their stories. Tonight sees the second series of their lockdown hit Secrets of the Museum begin on BBC Two in the UK. For all the talk of the death of linear TV in the face of streaming, you can see why the V&A wanted a second run on a terrestrial channel. No other medium could get them into hundreds of thousands of homes across the whole country, for a full hour at primetime, over six weeks. Nothing beats TV for reach. Ahead of tonight’s first episode, I’ve spoken to Sophie Brendel who looked after the project from the V&A for this week’s interview.
So read on!
maxwell
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barometer
What’s heating up and cooling down in the world of museums, art and galleries this week:
going up
Free-flowing visits. As of yesterday, there are now no legal covid restrictions in England (good job that pandemic thing’s over amirite?). To be honest, you won’t see a huge amount of difference inside museums and galleries, except that any remaining one-way routes have been ditched, such as at the British Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland. Roam free people!
going down
Irony. Conservative councillors in Essex have successfully managed to get an artwork - or more specifically, some benches and very rare roses - removed because they didn’t like it’s perceived *checks notes* attack on our “Democratically Elected Government” (their creepy capitilisation). Irony is officially dead.
curated
My curated list of what’s new to see, do, watch, read and more.
NEW GALLERY
Hauser & Wirth Menorca
The global gallery empire opens its newest outpost on the (tiny) historic Spanish island of Isla del Rey, Menorca. There’s an exhibition space with eight galleries, an Education Lab and an outdoor sculpture trail - you even need a boat to get there, and it’s open until 11pm. If travel ever opens up again proper, this’ll be the hottest destination for jet-setting art lovers. Now open
NEW EXPERIENCE
Rum and the Royal Navy
For over two centuries, the Royal Navy issued daily rum rations to fortify the spirits of their crew. To mark 51 years since this perk ended, Imperial War Museum’s HMS Belfast invites you on board for a special talk and rum tasting. You’ll relive the spirit of this much-loved tradition - just don’t lose your sea legs. 31 July 18:00
NEW FESTIVAL
Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021
The fifth edition of the outdoor art spectacular gets underway a year late because of you-know-what. 27 new commissions join the 74 now permanent works from previous editions installed around the seaside town on the English Kent coast. Highlights include Turner Prize-winning design studio Assemble collaborating with local skateboarders, while Morag Myerscough has designed a colourful gateway within a former gasworks. Opens Thursday. Read my interview with the curator here.
interview
It may have been shut to visitors for most of the past 18 months, but work at the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance never stopped, and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum let the TV cameras in to capture it all.
A second series of Secrets of the Museum begins tonight on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, and it promises to be a corker over six episodes, charting the painstaking craftsmanship and expertise involved in conserving, cleaning, loaning, acquiring and displaying some of the museum’s 2.3 million objects. Highlights of the series include the potential discovery of Michelangelo's thumb print on some wax buttocks, and the acquisition of a red velvet suit from the bass player from IT’S CHRISTMASSSS rockers Slade. The V&A is nothing if not eclectic.
For this week’s interview I speak to Sophie Brendel, who has a huge job as Director of Audiences, Commercial and Digital at the V&A. Sophie is herself an alumnus of the BBC where she was Head of Digital Communications. She joined the Museum in 2016 and is responsible for external communications, visitors and stakeholders, and leads marketing and PR. I chatted to her about the new series, what we’ll see, and whether she’s a binge watcher.
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What can people expect from this new series?
When Secrets of the Museum first aired in February 2020, little did we know that the last episode would coincide with the museum closing its doors as Covid-19 hit. Over the past year, through repeated lockdowns and social distancing, we welcomed the cameras back to the V&A.
Series two combines the historic and contemporary, from fashion to ceramics, sculpture to painting, much loved toys to rock ‘n’ roll. Some of my favourite storylines range from Molly Goddard’s iconic Daria dress and JW Anderson’s cardigan worn by Harry Styles that started a global crochet TikTok phenomenon, to the Talawa Theatre Group, the discovery of a fingerprint on Renaissance master Michelangelo’s wax sculpture, and a display of children’s rainbows collected during lockdown.
What does the V&A gain from opening itself up for a series like this?
Allowing cameras behind the scenes is complex, but as a national museum, our objects belong to the public, and we wanted to create a series that brought the V&A to life and championed creativity in all its forms.
What we love about Secrets of the Museum is that it’s not just a fly on the wall documentary, but explores the complexity and ingenuity of objects in our collection, and our expert staff that care for them. Secrets has been described to me as “slow TV” – an exploration in sometimes minute detail, a love letter to objects and craft. We’re not taking you into the Board Room or team meetings, but into places that the public don’t normally get to see – conservation and artists’ studios, and our stores and galleries.
Tell me a bit about the process, how is the show put together?
Making a series on this scale is a significant undertaking, and a museum-wide collaboration. Overseen by the V&A Comms team, we work closely with production company Blast! Films and the BBC to ensure that we create the right mix of stories, objects and locations.
We start with a research phase to brainstorm what’s coming up. We look for possible storylines centred around an individual object, often a gateway to explore wider issues and topics facing society today, or to look back at key moments in history. We also seek out personal elements, and people linked to the objects to bring the stories to life. In many ways, the small and focused crews working on Secrets become part of the V&A family.
Can we expect a third series?
Wouldn’t that be great? I’ll be calling the BBC shortly…
It's being shown weekly on BBC Two, but is available in one go on BBC iPlayer. What's your advice: delayed gratification or binge watch?
I’m a box set fan, often done secretly as my husband prefers to watch shows rather more slowly that I do. But I also love live TV - there’s something special about watching audience reaction as it unfolds, and to eagerly await a weekly installation. I’ll definitely be watching the first and last episodes when they air as we’ll be live tweeting from the @V_and_A Twitter account, and bringing you a host of online insight, Q&As and content alongside the series itself in the coming weeks.
You joined the V&A from the BBC. What were your priorities when you started, and what can museums learn from other organizations such as broadcasters or media outlets?
The V&A and the BBC are both public organisations, owned by everybody, with a nationwide remit. Since I first joined four years ago, the V&A has been transforming into a family of museums, from London and Dundee to Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent and Shenzhen, China. It’s an exciting time to be working with such talented colleagues across comms, marketing, digital, front of house and our commercial businesses to shape the myriad opportunities this brings.
Like media organisations, museums are crucibles for storytelling. At the V&A, we aim to put our audiences at the heart of what we do, creating programming, content and activations that build a global brand, inspire discussion, engage visitors and drive revenue through unforgettable experiences, in person and online.
It's been a tough 18 months for museums. What's been the biggest challenge in your role during the pandemic?
The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating for the cultural sector. Long periods of closure had a huge impact on our finances, with the V&A forced to find £10 million sustainable savings annually to safeguard our future. Very sadly, we had to review our operations, with a number of talented colleagues leaving the V&A as a result.
Helping the V&A rebuild over the coming years is the priority for me and my teams. While our physical doors were closed, we kept the V&A open online, championing a range of digital initiatives – from making 1.2m objects available through Explore the Collections and launching on TikTok, to our V&A Academy courses pivoting to online. But museums live in the conversation between object and visitor, and nothing beats the authentic power of standing in front of an object.
You've just done the first major press announcement for V&A East. How did that go?
V&A East is such an exciting project. With two new sites- V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum- opening in 2024 and 2025, it’s the chance to do something unique, and reimagine what a museum should be for the 21st century for new audiences.
Gus Casely-Hayford joined as Director of V&A East in April 2020. To unveil his expansive vision, we planned an in-person and live-streamed event that put young people, the voice of creatives and an approach to global storytelling at its heart. We featured a display of V&A East’s first major acquisitions, including a 2m high painting by Kehinde Wiley, a tile frieze by Mawuena Kattah and Molly Goddard’s Daria dress, alongside a pop-up studio by London Fashion Week’s emerging designer Miles George Daniel. It was amazing to see the widespread media and social media reaction. It’s a hugely inspiring project to work on, with much more to come.
Secrets of the Museum is on BBC Two tonight at 20:00 BST, or all episodes are available on BBC iPlayer
and finally
Museums and galleries are tracking you. You better smile, or it could be curtains for the artwork you’re looking at. Read more in the Times
Love art, museums and galleries? Then my newsletter is for you, keeping you up-to-date on what to read - and what to see. Subscribe below (it’s free!)