Former Academic Programs Head at V&A Felt ‘Unwelcome’ and Described Museum Staff Conduct as ‘Racist’

Former Academic Programs Head at V&A Felt ‘Unwelcome’ and Described Museum Staff Conduct as ‘Racist’

Yuko Kikuchi, the former head of academic programs at theVictoria and Albert Museumin London, resigned from her post in January after writing a letter to the institution’s leadership describing “racist” and “culturally insensitive” conduct she said she experienced from other museum staffers,theArt Newspaperreported.

Born in Tokyo and based in the UK since 1989, Kikuchi joined V&A South Kensington in October of 2023 and “felt unwelcome almost from day one,” she told theArt Newspaper.“Everything I brought to the V&A felt unappreciated or indeed unwanted.” Kikuchi added that she was “the only non-white person in the room” in meetings with senior staff. She also alleged that her proposals were often resisted and that she was excluded from important meetings.

Kikuchi, a seasoned academic, previously taught craft history and studies at Kanazawa College of Art Japan and was one of the founding members of the Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) at the University of the Arts in London. 

In her letter—which was reviewed by the Art Newspaper—Kikuchi said that the alleged conduct she experienced likely indicates “a culture of systemic racism within the organisation, that I believe needs to be addressed.”

Kikuchi’s letter included testimonials from MA students from the V&A/RCA history of design program, some of whom said that they had also experienced inappropriate conduct.

“During a lecture on the portrait of Francis Williams, in order to give context (of the time period/Jamaica at this time), the speaker chose to give accounts only of the feelings and lives of the white population, in 18th-century Jamaica; she described that during this time of slave revolt, that ‘people were fearful’—the only ‘people’ here being white people, people without prefix,” one student wrote, per the Art Newspaper. “There was no recognition or understanding that, perhaps, the people who had been enslaved would have obviously been fearful.”

“The V&A and the Royal College of Art are committed to celebrating diversity, eliminating discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity,” the institutions told the Art Newspaper in a joint statement. “We stand firmly against unlawful discrimination in all its forms, and take any incidents of discrimination or reporting of unsafe learning environments extremely seriously.”