Installation by Andre Williams, a longcase clock that plays mixtapes, in the V&A's 18th-century mirrored room for London Design Festival 2026.
Andre Williams has a new commission on display at the V&A South Kensington this weekend, titled Time After Time. It's a longcase clock that doubles as a soundsystem, and it's sitting in the museum's Mirrored Room — an oval, gilded space with zigzag parquet and motifs from Ndebele in Southern Africa and Bamiléké in Cameroon. As the hands mark the time, speakers built into the clock play mixtapes Williams selects throughout the day, so the sound changes depending on when you drop in.
Beside the clock, there's an easel Williams designed himself, holding a framed drawing by Dawn Wilson of Birmingham Soundsystem Youthman Promotion. The whole thing was inspired by the musical associations of the room it's in, and it's part of V&A x London Design Festival 2026: Awakenings, a series of installations across the museum looking at how design, craft and technology can spark new perspectives and bring to light invisible, interconnected forces. Williams' work sits right in that gap, fusing the traditions of clockmaking with soundsystem design.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in London and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
It's curated by Kristian Volsing and produced by Faunsia Tucker, and the drawing is by Dawn Wilson. You'll find it in the Europe 1600-1815 galleries, Room 2a, the Mirrored Room, at the V&A on Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL. It runs Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, 10.00 to 17.30, and it's a free event.
