I can only marvel when I consider that the footprint upon which the newly erected V&A East museum now stands was, for many decades, characterised by hard labour and heavy industry.

The area, once full of factories, warehouses and poverty, was described by novelists such as Charles Dickens in deeply unflattering terms. In 1857, he wrote: “Many select such a dwelling place because they are already based below the point of enmity to filth: poorer labourers live there, because they cannot afford to go further, and there become debased.”

Today, however, this once-defamed part of east London, has been transformed into a place of culture, leisure, artistry and creativity. The opening of V&A East exemplifies this shift. Its director, Gus Casely-Hayford, describes the institution as a platform for young Britons, regardless of background or origin, to craft their own destiny.

The inaugural display at the museum is the alluring exhibition The Music Is Black: A British Story, which celebrates 125 years of Black British music.

Read more: V&A East: the spirit of the 19th-century cultural campus of ‘Albertopolis’ lives on

The exhibition covers the period from 1900 to 2025 and is........

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