At the age of 39, Menesha Kelley has made history by becoming the youngest trustee in the British Museum’s 272-year history. In the historical annals of Britain’s cultural institutions, the Kelleys represent a new chapter.
Born and raised in Southall, to parents of Punjabi heritage who immigrated from East Africa in the 1970s, she is also the lead curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s upcoming exhibition celebrating South Asian creativity.
Today, her journey from “half-architect” (as she jokingly calls herself having done four of the seven years required to become a fully qualified architect in the UK) to one of the most influential cultural voices in Britain is as layered as the history she now helps to recreate. “I call myself half-architect because I’m halfway there,” she says, laughing. “I wasn’t fully qualified. I loved studying architecture, but I was always more excited about the sociological and anthropological aspects – how people interact with buildings and how they shape cities. I found the design process really painful.”
Manisha Banana has created history by becoming the youngest trustee in the 272-year history of the British Museum. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Now, sitting in the museum’s radically new outpost, the V&A East Storehouse, in East London, she speaks about breaking old structures and bringing lived experiences into institutional spaces.
What’s it like to be the youngest trustee in the history of the British Museum, and what does that role look like day-to-day?
Trustee is a voluntary role. There are a lot of incredible minds on board – people like Mary Beard, who has written countless books on ancient Rome, as well as sirs, dames and lords. So as a relatively young person and someone who comes from a South Asian background, it feels like a huge honor for me to be included in this. What I can bring to this role is lived experience and my background in architecture.
My entire practice within museum spaces has been about broadening participation, especially for under-represented communities and youth. The Trustees meet quarterly, but I am also part of the Master Plan Committee. Last summer, new director Nicholas Cullinan asked me to join an expert jury with others like artist Tracey Emin and Padma Shri-winning Indian museum professional Mahrukh Tarapore to appoint the next architect to design the Western Range. [of galleries at the museum] —The largest cultural infrastructure project in history.
‘What I can bring to this role is that lived experience and also my background in architecture’: Menisha Kelay
How were you invited to the board?
I built the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023 and we won a prize for it. I think from a British Museum perspective, I was ticking a lot of boxes – I had both museum experience and an architectural background. At the end of that jury process, George Osborne, the chair of the trustees, asked me to apply. I had an interview at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and a few months later I received a letter from 10 Downing Street, signed by the Prime Minister, appointing me. It really hit home – like, wow, this is real.
You have described your curatorial practice as “collaborative and questioning.” What questions are you hoping to raise through your work at V&A East?
We’re opening the V&A East museum next year, and one in five people in this part of London has South Asian heritage. Therefore, doing an exhibition celebrating contemporary South Asian creative practice seemed almost a no-brainer. There has been no major institutional show anywhere in the world of contemporary fashion, architecture and design in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The idea is to celebrate what’s happening now – designers, architects and makers whose work draws on deep generational knowledge and ancient practices, but reinterprets them for 21st-century contexts. Even people who are invested in South Asian culture often don’t realize how much is happening because there aren’t enough global platforms for it. There are incredible initiatives like the India Art Fair, Dhaka Art Summit, Kochi Biennale, Serendipity Festival and Colomboscope, but they are rarely disseminated more widely than in South Asia. It’s really about shining a light on the region and showing how relevant this creativity is globally.
unstruck melodyA collaboration between British-born Canadian artist Nirbhai (Nepal) Singh Sidhu and UK art organization Without Shape Without Format at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo Credit: Petre Kelleher
When you think about your upbringing as a British Indian, what kinds of stories or perspectives do you find missing from cultural spaces?
My parents were really interested in our world view. We will travel by car in different countries [once, from New York all the way to LA] And wherever we went, they took us to museums. Being the child of two expatriate Indians – born and raised in East Africa, with heritage in Punjab, and then settling in Britain – she found this insatiable curiosity. My mother was an art teacher in Nairobi before coming here, so the creative side was always there. My father never sat still. He was a teacher but was always creating something. I think this is where my desire to become an architect originated.
The legacy of empire is clearly deep and problematic, but an unintended consequence is that the South Asian diaspora has become one of the most global in the world. It’s something I’m really interested in exploring, how that worldly perspective shapes our creative expression today.
Your father seems quite impressive. How are those initial values filtered into your curatorial work?
We were a zero-waste home. I think that attitude has stuck with me. At the V&A, I once started an installation using leftover materials kimonos exhibition. I was always emailing colleagues asking if they had content we could reuse.
The way I work must include sustainability. When I commissioned designers Nebbia Works for the ultra-low carbon aluminum pavilion at the V&A, we later reused the infinitely recyclable material for an installation in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, named BardoStemming from the Buddhist idea of reincarnation. That kind of cyclical thinking feels very natural to me.
Nebia Works’ between the forest and the sky at the v&a
Madhav Kidao’s Bardo At the British Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Photo Courtesy: Taran Wilkhu
The British Museum has long been a focal point of conversations about colonial heritage and restitution.
The British Museum is 272 years old, and it’s not going anywhere. I am really glad to be a part of this moment of change. We have found a visionary director in Nicholas Cullinan who understands the mission of making this a “museum of the world, for the world.” I do not believe in erasing history. It’s important to acknowledge what’s happened, but it’s also important to build on it – to make sure people see the value in the collection and understand that it’s theirs. Entry to the museum is free, it belongs to the public. Rather than closing down, it’s about opening up, collaborating more and ensuring that communities around the world, whether in India, Pakistan or Nigeria, feel represented.
The V&A East has established itself as a museum for new audiences. What does access and representation look like for you?
It’s about participation and dialogue. I recently commissioned [content agency] A diet paratha to curate late friday night At the V&A, a night that brought 6,000 people together to celebrate South Asian creativity. It was very gratifying because it was not just South Asians; It was incredibly diverse. It was a reflection of London.
Diet Parathas late friday night At the V&A Photo Credit: Haider Devachi
late friday night At the V&A Photo Credit: Haider Devachi
The world feels increasingly polarized because of online platforms, but when you meet people in person, there are usually similarities. I think cultural institutions have a civic duty to create spaces where people can come together – to debate, discuss, even disagree – and to do it in a civil and curious way. This is something I feel really passionate about right now.
What kind of museum do you hope your generation will leave?
A museum where people can come together to learn about other cultures and feel nurtured. We need them to create spaces for change – where people feel inspired and engaged. Museums are not static. They are experimental spaces, places where things can be done constantly differently. And I think it’s up to us as cultural workers to continue to strive for that – to make sure that these institutions develop as places that reflect who we are and who we are becoming.
The author is a London-based freelance journalist who writes on fashion, luxury and lifestyle.