Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS

About the exhibition

Please note: This exhibition has now closed to the public. You can still explore the exhibition online at: www.heartofthenation.co.uk

Touring Exhibition 2023-24:
30 June – 29 October 2023: Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
10 November 2023 – 18 February 2024: Trinity Leeds
7 March – 27 July 2024: Migration Museum, London
Free admission – no booking

The National Health Service was created 75 years ago. Over the decades, it has faced huge pressures – never more so than today.

Yet the NHS and the millions of people who sustain it remain close to all our hearts. From the very beginning, people have come to Britain from all over the world to make this grand vision for a better society a reality. But their vital role has largely been ignored.

This national touring exhibition from the Migration Museum shines a light on the stories and experiences of people who have come to Britain to work in the NHS through photography, film, oral histories and an immersive experience that brings together singing and storytelling.

The exhibition opens at the Migration Museum’s current venue in Lewisham Shopping Centre on 7 March and runs until 27 July 2024, the final leg of a national tour. The exhibition launched in Leicester in June 2023 before moving to Leeds in November 2023.

You can also explore the exhibition online at: www.heartofthenation.co.uk

Heart of the Nation has been featured by a wide range of media during its national tour, including the Guardian, the Daily Mirror, Metro, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio London, BBC East Midlands Today, BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Asian Network, Dazed, Eastern Eye and the Big Issue.

Heart of the Nation won Museums + Heritage Awards 2024 Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year.

Supported by: Arts Council England, Garfield Weston Foundation, Rumi Foundation, Alfred Caplin Charity Settlement, The Dorfman Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy. Thank you to Leicester Museums for hosting the first leg of the tour and to Landsec for providing us with the venue for our pop up in Trinity Leeds – and our current home in Lewisham Shopping Centre.