The Imaginary Friend Collection

Background

The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, an offshoot of the main V&A, was based in East London.

It had a simple aim: to allow everyone, but especially children, to explore and enjoy objects made for and by children.

But therein lay the issue. Although childhood was a universal experience, museums by definition were created and run by adults. By extension, parents often took their children there for a trip down memory lane.

The challenge was to find a way to represent children in the here and now, and make them the centre of what the museum did.