Victoria & Albert Museum prepares to reopen with new safety rules and freshly dusted chandelier

Museum Technician Andy Monk cleans the 27 foot glass Rotunda Chandelier by Dale Chihuly, which is made up of 1,300 blue and green glass elements, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as it prepares to reopen to the public on August 6th.
Museum Technician Andy Monk cleans the 27 foot glass Rotunda Chandelier by Dale Chihuly

The director of the Victoria & Albert Museum has said he wants visitors to “focus on what they want to see, what they want to do and what they want to enjoy” when the museum reopens its doors on August 6.

The huge glass Rotunda Chandelier by Dale Chihuly, which hangs under the dome of the main entrance, has been specially cleaned in anticipation of the return of visitors, after the longest closure in the history of the museum due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Hunt added that face masks were mandatory "free timed ticketed entry, a limit on numbers to the museum, lots of hand sanitiser, but then when you are in you can enjoy the world’s greatest collection of art, design and performance."

The V&A said the “seven miles of galleries” in its building will reopen in phases, beginning with the ground floor collection galleries.

Its Kimono: Kyoto To Catwalk exhibition, which closed just two weeks into its run, has now been extended and will reopen on August 27.

An exhibition on handbags will open later this year, while exhibitions on art, design and culture in Iran and an Alice In Wonderland exhibition are planned for next year.

The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, which are close neighbours of the V&A in the South Kensington museum district, have announced their doors will reopen on August 5 and August 19 respectively.

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