Overview

The V and A is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. It has permanent and temporary exhibitions covering a wide range of themes from architecture, furniture, fashion, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, Asian art and theatre. It also has regular events. It's housed in an old Victorian building which has been excellently adapted with lifts and ramps to create excellent step free access. This review is of the Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up exhibition, which is located on the ground floor of the museum and is on until Sunday 4 November 2018.

Transport & Parking

The nearest tube station South Kensington is not step free. Although the Piccadilly, District and Circle line stop there all the platforms involve steps to the ticket office hall level and then further steps to street level. This is really disappointing. There are a number of buses that stop outside or near to the V and A. I would suggest picking up bus no 14 from Green Park which is an step free station.

Access

The V and A has two step free entrances in Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road. I entered from Cromwell Road and there is a gradual slope as well as steps to the entrance. There was a revolving door and an accessible entrance next to it. When I arrived I got manual wheelchair from a number which are near to the entrance. On my visit I stayed on the ground floor visiting the Frida Kahlo exhibition and restaurant. The entire route was step free. Getting to the exhibition involved going through the gift shop, the aisles were wide enough but it was busy. The Frida Kahlo exhibition was very popular and sold out on the day we visited. The exhibition focuses on her as a person and her image with a collection of personal artefacts and clothing. There is only a small display of her art work. We had timed admission and there was no queue when we arrived. The exhibition was laid out in a series of rooms. The first was a long, straight corridor with paintings and photographs on both sides of the walls. The exhibits were at standing height but the labels were at a lower level which was perfect for me in a wheelchair. The other rooms had items on the walls plus display cabinets which were at wheelchair user height. I'm glad I used a wheelchair to get around as there was no fixed seating inside the exhibition. Frida Kahlo was a disabled artist and one of the rooms focuses on her health and disability. On display is her prosthetic leg, decorated corsets which she wore after her operations and an assortment of medication. There are several photos that includes Frida's wheelchair. Interestingly when I was in this room people were very aware of my wheelchair and proactive about moving to let me see the exhibits, while in the other rooms both before and after I was often invisible. At the exit there are manual doors but a member of the public was there and opened the door for me. Exiting via the gift shop there were two unmarked slopes, both of which caught me by surprise and I nearly needed up rolling into members of the public. The café is self service with free standing tables and chairs. It was busy when we visited.

Toilets

There is accessible toilets. These are spacious with grab rails and emergency cords. I think there are accessible toilets on all floors, but I only used the one by the Cromwell Road entrance.

Staff

Brilliant extremely helpful. When I arrived at the Cromwell Road entrance one of the V and A volunteers came over to me to ask me if I needed help. I asked if I could borrow a wheelchair and she took me to where they store the wheelchairs. I had arranged to meet my friend, we had got our meeting points a bit muddled up, and she was already at the exhibition entrance. The volunteer offered to wheel me to the exhibition where my friend was waiting. I so appreciated this gesture. In the gift shop at the end of the exhibition I went over to the counter and informed the staff about the two slopes in the shop. They said they had already thought about it and hadn't been sure about it. I suggested that some marking on the floor to make people aware would be helpful. They agreed to review the flooring.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

On my visit I only saw a small part of the huge building, however, I found the building very welcoming and a lot of thought had been put into accessibility. On their website they have listed what they offer, there is Induction loops, Sound enhancement equipment, regular talks for deaf people in British Sign Language and Sign Supported English, Subtitled videos, Assistance dogs are welcome, various audio guides, Ear defenders for children and Assistive technologies. Sorry there's no photos, it was a very hot day and my spoons were nearly all used up just by travelling there.