S2E1 The V&A Museum: Tristram Hunt on 'The Lives of the Objects'

Museums are the greatest storytellers. Through artefacts and objects we learn the truth about the past, about the lives of our ancestors, seen and unseen. The collections allow us to draw our own conclusions, to craft our own stories, and to explore narratives in ways that are deeply personal. In this episode, Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A Museum in London, sheds light on what he calls the “people’s collection”. We learn to be adventurous when writing about objects, to view them as more than just props, and to appreciate the storytelling potential of the journeys they go on. After all, the things that adorn our lives are the windows to our souls - their meanings ebb and flow throughout the ages, and those intricate narratives are ours for the taking, to be explored and exploited.