Taylor Swift has arrived at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. Or at least her stuff has.
13 theatrical installations have been unveiled throughout the V&A's galleries, which show a selection of objects on loan from the superstar artist. Collectively they offer visitors a (free!) trail across the museum.
In total 16 fashion 'looks' sit alongside instruments played by Swift, iconic music awards, storyboards and previously unseen archival material tracing Swift’s story from childhood to pioneering global artist.
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Each of the 13 stops on the trail showcases a chapter in the songbook of Taylor Swift’s career, and they draw synergies between the chapters of her output and the V&A's own objects on display, as well as the architecture of the building. It's an unexpected addition to what's on at the V&A in the (Cruel) summer of 2024.
But is it a love story for visitors, or will you likely be left feeling more like the V&A did something bad? (geddit?).
Well, critics seem broadly positive!
It got a stonking five star review from the Telegraph. Poppie Platt says that it's "brilliant."
"It’s a stroke of genius from the V&A to capitalise on Swift-mania" Platt says. "This trail isn’t just for super-fans – it’s a seamless synergy of old and new that should delight anyone interested in how museums can imaginatively tell stories." The curators — and the museum's senior team — will be delighted to hear that.
The Times' review was also hugely positive, but knows that it's an exhibition that is going to delight Swifties the most. Critic Anna Murphy said that even though she is one of a tiny number of people not a hardcore Taylor fan, she still "found it engaging."
"Swifties like magical mystery tours, the clues and teases that pepper her albums" Murphy writes in her four-star review. "This is an attraction that is made for them, a whole new layer of joining the dots."
"Fantastically well-crafted" is how Londonist's Laura Reynolds describes the show. She thinks it is cynical to assume the whole point of it is to get people to visit bits of the V&A's building that don't get much footfall. But "in reality, it goes deeper than that" Reynolds thinks. "Each position [is] exquisitely chosen to reflect and enhance the meaning of the objects on display."
She goes on to praise the clever layout, for example the fact that the dress from the Fortnight music video — from most recent album The Tortured Poets Department — is shown beneath a staircase leading to the National Art Library, home to works by several famous poets. Or that a dress from the Speak Now era — an album that listed Swift as the only songwriter — is displayed completely alone.
The fashion exhibition wasn't universally loved however. Despite a respectable three-and-a-half stars in the Metro, critic Danni Scott was ultimately underwhelmed.
"As a lifelong Swiftie, the chance to see Taylor Swift honoured at the Victoria and Albert Museum in a new exhibition felt too good to be true" Scott writes.
But she said it was a disappointment. "As a fan of Taylor, I walked away knowing nothing more than I did walking in."
"Maybe it got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much, but I can’t help but think that even though the exhibition is a masterpiece, the V&A really missed a trick here."
Yet despite this Bad Blood, most critics seem to have left Enchanted.
Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail is on at V&A South Kensington until 8 September 2024. Entry is free.
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