Keepsakes

About the exhibition

Click to view the online exhibition

Keepsakes is a display of personal items that keep memories of migration and identity alive. These items and objects are either those that one generation has handed down to the next, or those that individuals keep as a reminder of a home, a country or a culture they have left behind or as some part of a past experience that they want to hold close to them.

These personal items often have a greater resonance and relevance to visitors than exhibits collected through more standard museum routes. They tell human migration stories that others can easily identify with, told in the individual’s own words, and which raise the question ‘What would your keepsake be?’ Each individual who has loaned an item has been photographed with their keepsake and their text about it is presented alongside the photograph.

For more information, do read Sue McAlpine’s blog post, “A Keepsake is a very special thing”, for our curator’s insight into the project.

Past displays of Keepsakes include:

Migration Museum at The Workshop, London, 23 June–20 August 2017

Idea Store Whitechapel, London, April–May 2016

Southwark Council, London, February–March 2016

Adopting Britain, Southbank Centre, London, April–September 2015

With thanks to…

Partnerships are at the heart of our Keepsakes project.We work with different individuals, organisations and community groups for each staging of Keepsakes. We would like to thank Morley College, NOMAD (Nations of Migration Awakening the Diaspora), Southwark Latin American Elders Group, Southwark Cyprus Turkish Association and the Pepper Pot Club for their help in making these exhibitions possible. We are also grateful to Southwark Council and the Idea Store for hosting previous stagings of Keepsakes.

Previous supporters:

Paul Hamlyn Foundation is an independent grant making body which funds organisations whose charitable activities help people to realise their potential and have a better quality of life.