Leiden : SIdestone Press, [2017]

Two of Bengaluru-based artist’s vases from her Celebrating Coral collection were part of the 1000 Vases show held in Paris

With London’s Victoria & Albert Museum in lockdown, its director shares his favourite artefacts

It is pretty dusty in South Kensington at the moment. Without millions of visitors wandering through the V&A galleries, the dust begins to settle and the past takes over. Under the steely eye of Vernon Rapley, head of security, our objects are resting safely at the moment. But the purpose of a museum is predicated upon dialogue and difference: the interaction between citizen and object, the journey into a web of histories, and then the flourishing of curiosity.

“Unvisited museums dwindle into very sleepy and useless institutions,” said our first director Henry Cole, who was an early proponent of blockbuster exhibitions.

Plants get a stylish home with these eye-catching, handmade wooden planters made for the wall.

Here's a new and novel use for that neglected historical artifact: the pencil.

Empty jars and recycles are easily transformed into stunning vases with the Lace Vase attachment by Milk Design Shop.