V&A East Storehouse has opened a new mini display exploring the Caribbean heritage and identity of a celebrated London artist.
Look What I Found documents the creative process of multimedia creative Jazz Grant, the recipient of Hackney Council’s Windrush Amplified Art Grant.
Grant has been commissioned by the council to create a piece of artwork inspired by her Windrush heritage. The resulting work - a mural at Hackney Central Library - is set to be unveiled in 2026.
As part of her research, Grant took up a residency at the storehouse and turned to its vast collection for inspiration. There she found a number of objects which have informed her work and which are now on display in the very space where the artist developed her ideas.
Grant told East End Review: “It’s been a really beautiful and unique experience [working at V&A East Storehouse]. I was able to gain a strong insight into
many areas of V&A East Storehouse and really understand how someone can utilise the space for their own project.
"There is so much care, attention and trust given to any individual who is looking to study an object up close. Such a stark difference to your typical museum experience.
"All areas of my identity are expressed in some way in every work that I do. My
paternal grandparents travelled from Jamaica as part of the Windrush Generation. I’m often looking to archives that reflect this part of my history.
"So at V&A East Storehouse, I was curious to see what research I could do with the Windrush Generation at the centre. I predominately work with found imagery so it was interesting to see how physical objects could also have an influence on my work."
Some of the items Grant was particularly inspired by included costume designs by Trinidadian artist Peter Minshall, a 1970s poster for the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica, a 1800sJamaican Lacebark Mat - a natural lace made from the Lagetta lagetto tree - and Mary Hogarth’s embroidered screen.
Speaking about the items which inspired her, she added: "I really love the cape by Peter Minshall. So many intricate but fun details. So engaging to look at. All these messages and motifs integrated, there’s a real sense of story telling and
celebration."
In addition to these pieces, visitors can enjoy a collage which will be replicated for the Hackney Central Library mural, To Travel This Ship - named after a poem by Jamaican-born British poet James Berry.
The piece weaves together images of Caribbean flora, archival photographs of the Windrush Generation by Howard Grey, and nods to London’s modern landscape.
Speaking of the mural, Grant said: "I wanted to combine Howard Grey’s photographs with architecture found in Hackney and take inspiration from the spirit of Carnival. A kind of energetic joyful tone but grounded with a sense of reality. Knowing that the artwork would be enlarged into a mural, I decided to use a lot of blue sky textures and foliage. Almost like a window, bringing a feeling of outside, inside."
Visitors can even take advantage of the storehouse’s Order and Object experience, which enables them to get up close and personal with some of the V&A’s most fascinating items.
Georgia Haseldine, Senior Curator at V&A East Storehouse, said: “V&A East Storehouse is a place for us all to find inspiration, and Jazz is a guiding light of how to use our national collection to make new work rooted in and for our local community.
“Jazz has selected incredible objects ranging from tapestries by Shelia Hicks and costumes inspired by carnival through to vibrant theatre posters and a delicate Jamaican lace bark mat.
“Translated through Jazz’s meticulous collage process, these objects from the V&A’s collection are now fizzing with new life as part of her commission for Hackney Council, To Travel This Ship. And the fact that her collage will be sited in one of our local libraries means it will inspire more people to come and see what V&A East Storehouse has to offer them. I can’t wait to see what is made next.”
Councillor Chris Kennedy, Hackney Council's Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care, Voluntary Sector and Culture said: “Here in Hackney, we know the power public art can bring as demonstrated in our Windrush Artwork Commission which saw the award-winning work of Thomas J Price and Veronica Ryan go on to become the first public, permanent artworks to honour the Windrush Generation.
“We launched the Windrush Amplified Art Grant to build on this collection of artworks that express the Windrush legacy in visionary ways. It’s been a delight to work with Jazz Grant and we look forward to her mural providing a daily reminder of the contributions that the Windrush Generation bring to Hackney.
"We’re grateful to the arrival of V&A East Storehouse in Hackney - this collaboration is a proud example of successful working partnerships between artists, Councils and world-class arts institutions.”
Grant’s objects and collage are available to viewLevel 2 at V&A East Storehouse, open seven days a week.
The mural will be unveiled following a major refurbishment of Hackney Central Library, set to be completed in 2026. Updates can be found on the Love Hackney website.
