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The V&A covers 12.5 acres (51,000 m
2
)
and 145 galleries.
Its collection
spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the
cultures
of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The holdings
of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes,
silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and p
rintmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most
comprehensive in the world. The museum owns the world's largest collection
of
post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items
being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from
South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world.
The East
Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in
ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in
the Western world.
Since 2001, the museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation
programme,
which has seen a major overhaul of the departments, including
the introduction of newer galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities.
The V&A has its origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry
Cole, the museum's
first director, was involved in planning; initially it was
known as the
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