Friday Late at the V&A: Flying High

Every last Friday of the month, the Victoria and Albert Museum transforms into a late night venue with exciting workshops, impressive installations and live DJs. The 28^th September saw the event named Flying High, an interactive journey through skylines, space and perspective.

When you think of something to do on a Friday night, spending at a museum may not be everybody’s cup of tea, however, with the V & A’s Friday Late events the museum is transformed into a fun and exciting occasion where you are able to freely experience and interact with art and with fellow art lovers. Aside from the unhelpful staff, who are clearly opposed to working late, the atmosphere is wonderful and providing you generally know where you are going, they shouldn’t get in your way too much.

Flying High saw installation art from artists such as Jason Hackenwerth, Chris Bracey, Blue Curry and features workshops by University of Arts London students. Aside from that there were talks, tours, films, food and drink – you will be lucky if you manage to experience everything in the three and a half hours, but everything you do experience will be a thrill. 

One of the most impressive installations was that of Cloud Caves by Jason Hackenwerth. Having created an expanse of cave-like structures using thin material, you were guided through a maze of ever-changing tunnels that gave an unearthly sense of experience. One of the best parts about the Friday Late event was that you were able to see a vast range of people interacting and experiencing art in a hands-on way. Paper Planes, an installation led by University of Arts London students saw people invited to take part in a paper plane making workshop which was collaborated to form an interesting and abnormal sky-scape. The events bring people together and allow art to become an experience which is something that is easily lost these days where we have become accustomed to going to a gallery or museum, looking at art in a one dimensional way and then leave feeling none the wiser. Bringing back the experience of art is something that we are more than happy to encourage and many people should participate in these well-crafted events, otherwise they are just missing out! 

Aside from the impressive installations, people were also invited to take part in tours and talks and to watch cinema, so no-one is left out. Whether you want to just observe or get stuck in, there is definitely something for everyone and the atmosphere was fantastic and teeming with people; the social aspect of the event was wonderful, DJs entertained (we were a particular fan of the Upside Down set by Jo Foley which was accompanied by a live performance piece of aerial hooping) and drinks were flowing and there was a distinct lack of pretension. We are not sure if we believed beforehand that a festival-esque vibe could have been achieved in such a formal setting, however, we would definitely refer to the event as a great success and shall be attending future Friday Late events. Hope to see you there!

Ruth Page

For further information on the Victoria and Albert Museum’s programme of events visit the Friday Lates website here.