Victoria and Albert Museum director to step down

The Victoria and Albert Museum's director Martin Roth is to step down this autumn, after five years in charge.

Under Roth’s directorship, the London fashion and design museum has been named museum of the year, and has achieved record visitor numbers with a succession of critically acclaimed exhibitions including Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty and David Bowie Is.

Commenting on his departure 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 Victoria and Albert forward to an exciting future.”

Chairman of the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert, Nicholas Coleridge said: “Martin’s tenure as Director has been marked by a highly successful period of creativity, expansion, and reorganisation of the Victoria and Albert.

“He has made a significant contribution to the success of this museum, and the Trustees are immensely grateful for all that he has achieved here. We are now starting the process of looking for someone to take on the role and are fortunate to have an exceptional team in place to lead its activities and help build its future with the new Director.”

Roth will be leaving the museum in the autumn, and the Victoria and Albert’s Board of Trustees will now begin the search to find a new director.

Image: Victoria and Albert website