- The partnership launches with an epic digital presentation of the Design Museum’s latest exhibition NIGO: From Japan with Love, on Olympia’s new 83-metre screen, the Canvas
- The free to view display brings NIGO: From Japan with Love beyond the museum’s walls for the first time, as the exhibition enters its final days at the Design Museum
- Further activations will take place throughout the annual partnership, drawing on the Design Museum’s exhibitions and creative programme
Olympia announces a year-long partnership with the Design Museum, which will deliver a programme of bespoke free cultural activations drawing on the museum’s exhibitions throughout 2026 and 2027.
Bringing world-leading design and creative talent to Olympia, the partnership with the nearby Design Museum further establishes the destination as London’s newest home for culture, creativity and entertainment.
The collaboration launches with an awe-inspiring first project celebrating the work and influence of Japanese designer and creative director, NIGO, with bespoke content brought to life across Olympia’s 83-metre-long, 8-metre-wide digital screen, the Canvas, on Emberton Walk. The presentation brings NIGO: From Japan with Love beyond the museum’s walls for the first time, as the exhibition enters its final days at the Design Museum. Visitors can experience the free-to-view display daily, every 15 minutes until 4 October.
NIGO: From Japan with Love, exhibiting at the Design Museum is the first retrospective dedicated to the visionary Japanese designer and creative director. Founder of A Bathing Ape and HUMAN MADE, and the first Japanese Artistic Director of KENZO since its founder Kenzo Takada.
NIGO has transformed the relationship between streetwear, luxury fashion and global culture and the themes, influences and visual language from the Design Museum exhibition have been brought to life through a monumental display created specifically for the Canvas in collaboration with Pixel Artworks, the global experience design studio.
Celebrating NIGO’s boundary-pushing approach to creativity, the work explores the cultural connections that have shaped his career across fashion, music, design and popular culture, from Japanese craft and streetwear to vintage Americana and contemporary luxury.
Michael Volkert, CEO of Olympia, said: “It’s a privilege to partner with the Design Museum, a leading London cultural institution, to bring their incredible exhibitions to life here at Olympia through the Canvas and our other public spaces. Being able to offer this experience free of charge makes it even more meaningful and is central to our vision of making world-class culture accessible to everyone who spends time at Olympia, whether working here, visiting our bars and restaurants, coming to a concert or attending an event in the exhibition spaces. We want culture to be woven into the experience of being here – not as an add-on, but as part of what makes Olympia a destination worth visiting.”
Olympia’s partnership with the Design Museum will continue throughout the 12-month programme, drawing on exhibitions including Es Devlin: Other Worlds, the first European retrospective celebrating the British artist and designer’s 30-year creative practice, which runs at the Design Museum from 2 October 2026 to 4 April 2027. The exhibition explores Devlin’s genre-defying practice across sculpture, stage design, music, language and light, bringing together artworks, installations, film and the largest solo presentation of her archive to date.
Visitors to the display are also invited to explore the transformed Olympia, which reintroduces the 140-year-old destination not simply as a venue, but as one of the capital’s most exciting new places to explore cultural experiences, diverse dining concepts and live entertainment.
From the state-of-the-art music venue British Airways ARC, Hyatt Regency London Olympia, to the “only-at-Olympia” bars and restaurants under the striking Canopy rooftop terrace, to the grand all-day restaurant Idalia and the historic Pillar Hall, Olympia has come alive with new experiences.
At the heart of Olympia’s free-to-enjoy cultural offering, the Canvas is designed to showcase immersive digital art, live content, and large-scale activations. Positioned on Emberton Walk, Olympia’s new public street, it creates a focal point for visitors and the local community to connect, bringing culture into the everyday experience of exploring Olympia.
NIGO: From Japan with Love is running at the Design Museum until 4 October. Olympia’s digital presentation inspired by the exhibition will be free to view on the Canvas until 4 October (daily, every 15 minutes).
