V and A Museum to display lost London venues in new exhibition

The Lost Music Venues exhibition will go on display in 2026, and promises to be a “groundbreaking” show about the importance and cultural significance of independent and grassroots music spaces. The exhibition’s democratised approach to space will platform all types of loss, from “sweaty basement gigs to legendary nightclubs”. 

However, it is a feat that cannot be done alone. The museum has asked Londoners to send in artefacts or music ephemera that harken back to spaces before they were pressured to close.

No artefact is too niche for the museum, which is asking for everything from flyers, signage, flooring, equipment, and set lists to posters, photographs, film footage, DJ decks, clothing, designs, and more.

The topic of unprecedented venue closures has been often discussed in the news lately. A new survey has revealed that 93 per cent of music fans in the UK agreed that £1 from every arena ticket sold should go towards grassroots music venues. Sam Fender also donated £1 for every ticket sold to the Music Venue Trust on his most recent UK tour in December 2024.

Recently, Far Out‘s Music Editor, Tom Taylor, wrote of the importance of independent venues: “Live music venues are not just ‘businesses’ – which is the mode in which they are currently being presented – but establishments that provide a service every bit as vital as the only four remaining strongholds clinging to any kind of funding: the NHS, schools, policing and the army.”

It is hoped that this upcoming exhibition will use nostalgia and collective archive-making to explore, and overall highlight, the importance of music venues for the well-being of the nation.

Related Topics