Lizzie Hines (Philosophy 2000) has spent four years transforming London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Her work as Director of the V&A’s Redesign Programme, launched in 2021, looks to the museum’s history to guide its future.

“The distinctive thing about the V&A is that it has always been a pioneer,” says Lizzie. “It was the first museum to have lighting so that, after a day at the factory, everyone could come and walk around the museum at night and be inspired about what might be possible. It was also the first museum to have an artist in residence or a cafe.

“I hope that some of the things we do in this programme are potential contenders for being part of that history of the V&A, caring about innovation.”

Perhaps Lizzie’s proudest achievement is the introduction of Order an Object, which allows anyone to book to see any of the 1.7 million artefacts housed in the V&A’s collection, spanning 5,000 years of design history and including some of the greatest items ever made, freely available, “as easy as booking an Uber”. V&A East Storehouse has been described as one of the ‘Best places to visit in the world’ by Time Magazine and Time Out which cited the Order an Object Service, and is currently shortlisted for Museum of the Year. 

A view of a section of Robin Hood Gardens, a former residential estate in Poplar, east London, at V&A East Storehouse. (credit: David Parry, PA Media Assignments)

Lizzie is thrilled by the response that Order an Object has had; she is often touched by the range of experiences that visitors have with the objects they order.

“What’s happened is much more extraordinary than we expected,” she says. “On the first day it went live we were both relieved it worked and overwhelmed by how it was received. A woman was ordering hats that their grandmother, who was a milliner, had made, and wanted to feel a connection to her. Someone ordered five teapots, just because they love teapots. Someone else was doing a PhD on maternity wear in the Victorian era, and wanted to know - was it more supportive than the maternity wear we have today? A David Bowie fan wanted to hold guitars from his most significant performances. Someone was looking for inspiration for their lingerie collection. A woman with last stage cancer ordered Balenciaga and Dior gowns ‘to see as much beauty as I can before I die’.

“Feedback and data about what people want from museums, or our shared creative infrastructure more broadly, isn’t normally this rich and deeply personal.” 

The Redesign Programme emerged from plans to open two new V&A sites in East London, together with reopening the transformed Museum of Childhood. Lizzie, pictured, returned to the V&A from a year-long sabbatical in the United States to consider what the new museums might look like and how they might impact the museum group as a whole.

She says: “The question was: how can we use this opportunity of expanding into a larger group of sites to find the big moments of transformation and change for the V&A but also for the public and for the sector? How can we make the museum less of an ivory tower and more permeable, with a closer, more interwoven relationship with people, so that it is of, for and by everyone?”

The Redesign Programme has been a wide-ranging project, from organising how museum employees will operate across the museum group, to maximising visitors’ enjoyment and comfort during their first 90 minutes at the museum, and attracting visitors and representing people from demographics who are typically less frequent museum-goers. Most recently Lizzie has developed the V&A’s next strategy, which will focus on increasing support for the creative industries.

Having always had a keen interest in art and history, Lizzie began her cultural sector career supporting the Royal Academy of Arts’ summer exhibition. Following this, she has held several positions at the V&A in communications, exhibitions and project management, and as Head of Operations at V&A East.

Top image: an Order an Object appointment at V&A East Storehouse (credit: Bet Bettencourt)