About PDEC

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Following the recent announcements from the V&A regarding the proposed restructuring of the collections, the Performance Design Education Collective (PDEC) join other colleagues in the industry to express our concern about the future of the Theatre and Performance Collection.

This collection and department are of notable value to theatre and performance design educators and we believe it will be a great loss to the arts and culture sector if the restructuring and redundancies at the V&A lead to restricted access to this collection.

PDEC represents 22 universities and institutions with performance design and related courses and many of these use the V&A Theatre and Performance Collection and benefit from the expertise of the department staff.  There is no other country with such a concentration and diversity of theatre and performance design courses and the value of this to the cultural and economic standing of the UK is immense.

The teaching of Performance Design, in which the UK excels, is founded on insightful investigations into the history and development of the performing arts in this country. As an educational resource, the Theatre and Performance Collection and department are valued nationally and internationally with many overseas students and academics coming to the V&A for specific research trips.

Given the essential nature of the Theatre and Performance Collection and department to the richness of UK culture and education at all levels, how does the V&A intend to support and even increase the accessibility to the collection and all the educational material within it?

                                                                                                                                                                    March 2021