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Mask-wearing visitors will be allowed to tour
exhibits on two of the museum's floors, strolling through 250
years of European Renaissance art, a dazzling Islamic Middle
East gallery, and five centuries of fashion from around the
world.
Tickets are free but visitors will be allowed in on a
booking-only basis after months of coronavirus-enforced closure,
marking another step in Britain's tentative economic and
cultural reopening.
"We want people to enjoy themselves again after all these months
of looking at screens - to go and see an artefact for yourself,
to stand in front of an object, that's what's so important,"
said museum director Tristram Hunt.
"The V&A has been closed for 138 days, the longest period of
closure in its history."
The 160-year-old museum, named after Queen Victoria and her
husband Prince Albert, has been modified to meet the demands of
social distancing regulations designed to prevent the spread of
a COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 46,000 people in
Britain alone.
Hand sanitiser dispensers have been dotted around the sprawling,
mosaic-floored building. The gift shop and cafe have been
equipped with protective screens.
Further sections of the V&A's seven miles of galleries will
reopen in phases later in the month.
"What we've all discovered is that it's relatively easy to
close, but it's a lot more difficult to reopen," Hunt said.
"We've got the pubs open, we've got the football playing, that's
great. But museums, galleries, schools, places where people can
nurture their souls is really important."
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Writing by William James; Editing
by Janet Lawrence)
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