Meneesha Kellay interview: ‘I don’t believe in erasing history’, says the youngest trustee at the British Museum

At 39, Meneesha Kellay has made history as the youngest trustee in the British Museum’s 272-year history. In the storied corridors of Britain’s cultural institutions, Kellay represents a new chapter. Born and raised in Southall to parents of Punjabi heritage who arrived from East Africa in the 1970s, she is also lead curator for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s forthcoming exhibition celebrating South Asian creativity. Today, her journey from “half-itect” (as she jokingly calls herself for doing four of the seven years required to become a fully qualified architect in the U.K.) to one of the most influential cultural voices in Britain is as layered as the histories she now helps reframe. “I call myself a half-itect because I got halfway there,” she laughs. “I didn’t fully qualify. I loved studying architecture, but I was always more enthusiastic about the sociological and anthropological aspects - how people interact with buildings and how they shape cities. I just found the design process really painful.” Meneesha Kellay has made history as the youngest trustee in the British Museum’s 272-year history | Photo Credit: Getty Images Now, seated in the V&A East Storehouse, the museum’s radical new outpost in East London, she speaks about disrupting old frameworks and bringing lived experience into institutional spaces. How does it feel to be the youngest trustee in the British Museum’s history, and what does that role look like day to day? Trustees are a voluntary role. There are lots of incredible minds on the board - people like Mary Beard, who has written countless books on ancient Rome, as well as Sirs, Dames and Lords. So me joining as a relatively young person, and someone from a South Asian background, feels like a huge honour. What I can bring to the role is that lived experience and also my background in architecture. My whole practice within museum spaces has been about broadening participation, especially for underrepresented communities and young people. The trustees meet quarterly, but I’m also part of the master plan committee. Last summer, Nicholas Cullinan, the new director, asked me to join the expert jury alongside others such as artist Tracey Emin and Mahrukh Tarapor, an Indian museum professional who received the Padma Shri, to appoint the next architect designing the Western Range [of galleries at the museum] - the largest cultural infrastructure project in history. ‘What I can bring to the role is that lived experience and also my background in architecture’: Meneesha Kellay How did you come to be invited to the board? I curated the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023, and we won an award for it. I think from the British Museum’s perspective, I was ticking several boxes - having both museum experience and an architecture background. At the end of that jury process, George Osborne, the chair of trustees, asked me to apply. I had my interview with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and a few months later, received a letter from 10...

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