Exhibition Road Courtyard
The Exhibition Road Courtyard (named as Sackler Courtyard between 2017 and 2022, then appearing as Exhibition Road Courtyard on maps[1]) is a public courtyard that serves as an entrance to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It is part of the V&A Exhibition Road Quarter entrance and expansion of the Museum, completed in 2017 and designed by architectural practice AL_A, the firm of architect Amanda Levete.[2]
| Exhibition Road Courtyard | |
|---|---|
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| Former names | Sackler Courtyard |
| General information | |
| Location | Victoria and Albert Museum |
| Town or city | London |
| Inaugurated | 2017 |
| Technical details | |
| Material | porcelain tiles |
| Floor area | 1200 m2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Amanda Levete |
The courtyard opens out onto the street (Exhibition Road) through a perforated entrance gate. It's made of 11,000 handmade tiles, a reference to the V&A's heritage as a world-leader in ceramic study, collection and preservation. It is the world's first porcelain public courtyard, and special purpose non-slip porcelain tiles had to be created for the project.[3] The courtyard also features a cafe and an oculus, with view down into the new performance hall of the Museum below.
Controversial name
The courtyard was named Sackler Courtyard after the Sackler family, associated with the Purdue Pharma company accused of fuelling the opioid crisis in the US. Theresa Sackler, the chair of the Sackler Trust, sat on the V&A's board of trustees at the time the Courtyard was opened.
In 2019 US photographer and activist Nan Goldin and her group P.A.I.N.(Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) held their first anti-Sackler performance protest outside of the United States at this place in London, demanding that the museum “abandon the Sackler name”, remove signage at the institution linked to the family and stop receiving donations. Goldin led a group of 30 demonstrators in placing bottles of pills and red-stained “Oxy dollar” bills on the courtyard's tiled floor.[4]
At the time, the museum's director Tristram Hunt supported the family and refused to change the name. He told a press conference "we’re proud to have been supported by the Sacklers."[5]
In 2022 the Museum bowed to the pressure and removed the name. No new name was announced at the time for the courtyard,[6] but 2023 maps of the museum show the name Exhibition Road Courtyard in it.[1]
References
- "V&A Digital Map". Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- WA Contents (30 June 2017). "AL_A Completes World's First Porcelain Courtyard For V&A Museum". World Architecture. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- Dowdy, Clare (18 May 2017). "Death, determination and design: how Amanda Levete is transforming London's V&A". Wired. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- Harris, Gareth (16 November 2019). "Nan Goldin brings first PAIN protest to the UK, storming the Victoria and Albert Museum". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- Brown, Mark; Walker, Amy (2019-07-10). "V&A boss proud of funding from US family linked to opioid crisis". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
- Thorpe, Vanessa; Walters, Joanna (1 October 2022). "V&A drops financial ties with Sackler family over links with opioids". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2023.