London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched a new collection tactic, called “Rapid Response Collecting,” in which the gallery acquires objects and materials as they enter into the public consciousness. One recent example is a pair of Primark jeans, an emblem of the international trade at the center of the Bangladeshi factory collapse last year. “Much of the commentary in the media around the Rana Plaza disaster was about international labour laws, building control in Bangladesh and the responsibilities of global corporations and of consumers,” says Corinna Gardner, V&A curator of Rapid Response Collecting. “But at its heart was a material thing: a pair of jeans that you can buy on any British high street.”
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