Rapid Response Collecting

The V&A’s Rapid Response Collecting programme is a unique collecting strand which brings in contemporary design objects when they are in public discourse. I supported the Senior Curator, Corinna Gardner, to identify and collect objects, arrange rotations, give talks on the programme, and negotiate unique workflows for the programme.

The acquisitions I worked on were varied. I led the acquisition of the Pulse Oximeter, which spoke about the devastating impact of racial bias in design, and three ‘joey pouches’ made by crafters responding to the devastating 2021 Australian forest fires. I assisted in various guises on all of the eight Rapid Response acquisitions on show for the redisplay with the opening of Design: 1900-Now, which included objects from climate activist group Extinction Rebellion, Nike trainers that enabled Eliud Kipchoge to run the first sub 2-hour marathon, and objects related to the Covid-19 pandemic. I also supported colleagues to contribute to collecting, such as for the acquisition of Ghazal Foroutan’s ‘Woman Life Freedom’ protest posters, and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s anti-racism posters.