V&A Director steps down

London fashion and design museum V&A has begun the search for a new Director after its head Martin Roth announced plans to step down on Monday.

Roth will be leaving the institution to devote more time to various international cultural consultancies and plans to spend more time with his family in Berlin and Vancouver.

According to media reports, his decision was also fuelled by his disappointment at Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. The German executive was appointed Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in September 2011, becoming the museum’s first foreign director.

During this time, he presided over a succession of critically acclaimed exhibitions, such as ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ and ‘David Bowie is’, achieving record visitor numbers. Last year the V&A reached the highest level of visitors in its 150 year history.

Martin Roth said: “It's been an enormous privilege and tremendously exciting to lead this great museum, with its outstanding staff and collections, and I’m proud to have steered it to new successes and a period of growth and expansion, including new partnerships around the UK and internationally. Our recent accolade as Art Fund Museum of the Year feels like the perfect moment to draw to a close my mission in London and hand over to a new director to take the V&A forward to an exciting future.”

He will be leaving the museum in the Autumn.

V&A Director steps down

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