The Migration Museum stands in solidarity with people and communities under threat from recent violent attacks across the UK.
As an organisation that explores how the movement of people to and from the UK across the ages has shaped who we are as individuals, communities, and as nations, we are deeply committed to standing up against division and hatred.
Violence directed towards people seeking sanctuary, people of colour, Muslims and others, shows that there is so much work to be done to contribute to a society that feels more connected rather than more divided. We aim to be part of this change.
Hope is powerful, we are stronger together.
In solidarity, Migration Museum team
Update:
A week on from the violence directed towards people seeking sanctuary, people of colour, Muslims and others, we continue to stand in solidarity with the victims and with everyone who has been traumatised and affected.
As we continue to process and start to think about how to rebuild and heal, we wanted to share the thoughts of two of our Trustees – historian, author, and broadcaster Professor David Olusoga, and author Robert Winder – assessing some of the personal and collective impacts, causes and historical precedents.
Оur award-winning learning team runs in-person and online workshops and creates resources to facilitate informed conversations around migration among primary and secondary school children (Year 7 and up). It also trains teachers in how to approach teaching about migration and how to integrate it into various curriculum subjects, and promotes individual migration stories that emphasise lived experience.
Since 2020, we have engaged around 17,500 students and 1,300 teachers through our learning programme. 84% of students said they found the workshops highly educational, 76% of students found their visit engaging and 81% said that they had a better understanding of migration after participating in museum activities. Feedback also shows that 100% of teachers were satisfied with the content and relevance of the workshops.
We have a partnership with the Teach First Summer Project to engage in co-production of learning materials and to help in its understanding of the support needed by teachers. We also share best practice through its Migration Network, which includes hundreds of people from institutions within museums, galleries, and the charity and education sectors.
Pelham Primary School visit to the Migration Museum (Photo: Pelham Primary School) and Migration Museum stall at Windrush75 Tilbury Celebrations (Photo: Migration Museum)
Judges praised the Migration Musuem’s Learning Programme for its innovative approach to teaching migration. The training of teachers ensures sustainability, allowing future students to engage with the topic. Service-user involvement is emphasised through storytelling, integrating people with lived experiences into the project.
Charity Awards judge Karin Woodley, chief executive of Cambridge House, said the Migration Museum’s learning programme was innovative in approaching the subject of migration in terms of the population and development of the UK as a whole, rather than focusing on individual migrant communities. It was a “difficult and potentially contentious area of work with excellent knowledge-sharing and outcomes,” she said.
“The other thing that’s unusual, and very hard to do in schools, is the cross-curriculum approach – training teachers to understand migrant history across all areas of the curriculum.”
Judge André Clarke, director of charity development at Lloyds Bank Foundation, added that the Migration Museum’s use of storytelling is both simple and powerful, and highlighted the importance of the project “in the context of the current toxic and inflammatory conversation about migration”.
Liberty Melly, Head of Learning at the Migration Museum, said: “Thank you! We’re so proud of everything we’ve achieved. Young people continue to inspire us, making us believe in a better future, where tolerance, understanding and empathy are core. Engaging young people in important conversations and taking the stigma and polarisation out of the topic of migration which is so often used to divide us. Migration goes to the heart of who we are as individuals, communities, and as nations.”
Learning Team at The Charity Awards 2024 (Photos: Migration Museum)
A special thank you goes to our trustees and education committee for their ongoing support and commitment. We are also grateful to our amazing volunteers and placement students for their help with facilitating and delivering sessions. As well as our Teach First summer placements, exam board, and teacher training partners for their invaluable contributions.This achievement is a testament to the hard work and collaboration of everyone involved. We appreciate your ongoing support!
If you’d like to find out more about our learning programmes, get in touch with our Head of Learning, Liberty liberty@migrationmuseum.org
Visit our donate page If you’d like to support our work.
The Migration Museum is delighted to have received funding from the Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme to create a cutting edge new digital footprint.
This funding will enable us to scope and build new digital infrastructure as a key element of our exciting future plans, which encompass digital collections, a network of venues across the UK and a permanent home in the City of London. With this new digital infrastructure, we will expand our reach even further, support ambitious creative and engagement programmes, and develop a comprehensive digital collection, ensuring accessibility for all.
The Capital Investment Programme supports the Arts Council’s mission to ensure communities across the country have the infrastructure where creativity for everyone can thrive.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: “This infrastructure investment will help a whole range of different cultural organisations across England to flourish, increasing opportunities for people to enjoy creatively excellent cultural events close to where they live. It’s particularly important that we’re making this happen in communities where cultural investment has historically been low”.
Click here to find out more about Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme.
Please note: the deadline for submissions has now passed and we are no longer able to accept any more entries. Many thanks to everyone who applied for this. We are currently assessing all entries will be in touch shortly.
Call for artists with a deep connection to Lewisham to submit work around the theme of “Inside/Outside and All In Between” for a community curated exhibition at the Migration Museum
Are you an artist passionate about delving into the complexities of the migrant experience? We invite you to participate in our upcoming exhibition centred around the theme of Inside/Outside and All In Between.
As migrants, we often find ourselves navigating between the internal journey of identity and belonging (Inside) and the external realities of settlement and integration (Outside). We have private and public selves and conflicts that arise from switching between these identities.
This exhibition invites artists working in diverse mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation and digital art to explore a broad range of perspectives on what it means to navigate the boundaries of inside and outside and explore the contrasts and conflicts of experiencing (and existing in) a world that does not cater to one’s own heritage.
Inside/Outside And All In Between is the first exhibit in our new Community Space. and the first produced by our newly hired Community Curators. The exhibit will coincide with the launch of All Our Stories, the Migration Museum’s next exhibition in Lewisham, opening in September 2024.
Curators’ statement Inside/Outside And All In Between delves into the complex dynamics of migration and displacement, exploring the potential conflicts, parallels, blends and transformative journeys between the public and private spheres, between the external and internal dimensions of ‘home’, between outward expression and inner states of being, between memory and imagined self/future, between struggling with and/or embracing a new culture and identity… and much more.
What are we looking for? This is an open call to artists, writers, designers, filmmakers and any other creative practitioners with deep connections to Lewisham. We are open to all art forms and welcome proposals from both new creators and established artists. We are particularly interested in hearing from anyone with lived experience of migration. Solo or group work in any medium is welcome, as well as works that are ready to exhibit.
Applicants will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
Quality of work
Critical engagement with theme and broader socio/political themes relating to migration and identity
We encourage everyone to apply. There is no fee for participation, but if you need support to realise your submission, we are happy to discuss and review this on a case by case basis if your submission is shortlisted.
Key Dates Submission deadline: Friday 31 May 2024 (23:59) Shortlisted candidates will be contacted once our curators have had a chance to review all applications with details on next steps.
How to apply Please complete this form to be considered. When prompted, please attach supporting PDF documents (no larger than 10mb). For video/audio tracks creatives should provide a Youtube link.
For PDF submissions please include:
Max 300 word statement providing details about yourself and the work submitted.
A section including images, sketches, text etc. which showcases your work. For installation pieces this may include specifications on how the work should be displayed in the space. Pieces should be no bigger than 1x1x1 metres.
For audio/visual track submissions please include:
Provide a brief statement providing details about yourself and the work submitted.
The full track, preferably no longer than 10mins.
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