2026 | The Music is Black at the V&A Museum

When does technology become part of a story – and when does it start to tell stories?

“I was dancing my way around,” writes one visitor about the opening exhibition “The Music Is Black: A British Story” at the new V&A East Museum in London.

What could be better than visitors dancing in response to this question? When people forget the technology around them. Emotions are what we aim for with usomo. Technology is merely our means to an end.

With the opening exhibition “The Music Is Black: A British Story” thousands of visitors are currently experiencing a form of storytelling that has fascinated us for many years.

Not just because it is technically extraordinary.

But because it brings about change. When sound no longer merely accompanies people, but makes stories tangible in space, something new emerges.

“One of the best exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time,” writes another visitor.

The Financial Times says “The Music Is Black: A British Story — V&A East Museum’s debut is an irresistible hit“ and describes usomo as “a musical soundscape that flows and shifts as one moves through the exhibition’s successive “acts”. Crucially, this tech never feels gimmicky or distracting; it draws us intimately into the experience”

The Observer describes the exhibition as a “…sonically immersive show”.
Wallpaper says: „From the outset, the exhibition lends itself to an intimate auditory affair, as headsets provided deliver curated soundtracks that respond to your location within the gallery – underscoring artefacts, films, and paintings with a sonic experience that feels personal.“

Supported by Sennheiser, usomo was used to bring the exhibition to life as an immersive audio canvas. A story of excellence, resilience and joy that spans four continents. – the exhibition traces 125 Years of Black British Music, told through more than 120 musical pieces, voices and original recordings.

usomo is a new medium for art, culture and visitors.
One that offers artists, curators, museums and institutions something that has never existed before: the possibility to let the space itself become part of the narrative and the emotion. Sound that changes in real time with the movement of each individual visitor. No two tours are the same. No two experiences are identical. What emerges is not a reproduction, but an encounter.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the team at V&A East Museum, Sennheiser and all the visitors whose feedback has helped to make this project what it is meant to be:

A unique sonic moment.