Migration Museum – reopening plans
The Migration Museum remains closed until further notice. We aim to reopen in autumn 2020 with the launch of our new exhibition, Departures, exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain.
© Migration Museum (Artwork: Wall © STIK/Thierry Noir)
Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS
Digital exhibition coming soon
© Image features Nurses Eating Lunch, 1976 by Peter Marlow
Migration Network 2020/21
The Migration Network is a knowledge-sharing network bringing together organisations from across the UK heritage sector and beyond, featuring a series of regional knowledge-sharing events from Autumn 2020 onwards.
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Cazenove Road by Christian Sinibaldi, from our 100 Images of Migration exhibition online gallery.
Click to view our online 100 Images of Migration gallery
© Christian Sinibaldi
Sasha, Maurice and Frank with their Keepsakes.
Click to view our full online gallery of Keepsakes.
© Camilla Greenwell
Search and browse our online education resource bank
Looking for relevant, engaging learning resources on migration and ethnic diversity for your kids while schools are closed? Our searchable resource bank features some of the best resources on these themes, hand-picked by our learning team, broken down by subject, key stage and keywords.
© Migration Museum
Migrants Mean Business with George Alagiah
Migrants Mean Business is a new podcast series from the Migration Museum, in association with Allianz Global Investors, presented by broadcaster and author George Alagiah and featuring conversations with some of Britain’s most successful business leaders – all of whom have immigrant backgrounds.
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Room to Breathe at the Migration Museum
Migration Museum Lewisham Shopping Centre (Entrance in Central Square) London SE13 7HB CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
© Migration Museum (Photo: Elzbieta Piekacz)
Humanæ at the Migration Museum
Migration Museum Lewisham Shopping Centre (entrance in Central Square) London SE13 7HB CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
© Angélica Dass (Photo: Juan Miguel Ponce)
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan visits the Migration Museum and pledges support
© Migration Museum
Moving Stories 2019/2020
We have teamed up with exam board OCR to re-launch Moving Stories, a national competition for History GCSE students who are studying OCR’s module on ‘Migration to Britain’ in 2019/20.
© Hugo de la Rosa Paulet/Migration Museum
The Migration Museum explores how the movement of people to and from Britain across the ages has made us who we are – as individuals and as a nation.
UPDATE ON 3 JULY 2020: The Migration Museum aims to reopen in autumn 2020 with the launch of our new exhibition, Departures, exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain.
We sincerely look forward to welcoming each and every one of you back to the Migration Museum as soon as we can. In the meantime, we are creating our first major digital exhibition, Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS, exploring the personal stories and experiences of people who have come to Britain to work for the health service over the past 72 years. We are also developing a programme of community activities. We will be announcing more details on both of these soon and will provide further updates on reopening as soon as we can.
Read our full statement on reopening
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Michael Rosen was born in 1946 in North London. One of the best-known figures in the children’s book world, he is renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter. As an author and by selecting other writers’ works for anthologies he has been involved with over 140 books. He lectures and teaches… Read more
An immersive exhibition inviting you to discover stories from generations of new arrivals to Britain. Journey through a series of rooms in which the struggles, joys, creativity and resilience of living in a new land are brought to life through audio, films, photographs and personal objects. Read more
A work by STIK and Thierry Noir, drawn directly onto two pieces of the Berlin Wall, sending a powerful message about how we as individuals can maintain connections across borders, walls and barriers. Read more
Opening later in 2020, Departures is a new exhibition exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain through personal narratives, contemporary art and a range of media. Read more
An exhibition from the Migration Museum exploring seven migration moments throughout history that changed Britain through art, photography, graphics, quotes and stories. Read more
© Christian Sinibaldi
A collection of diverse images by professional and amateur photographers that together tell a compelling story about what migration means to people across the UK. Read more
© Siddharta Arbelaez Caldas and Aditi Anand
Working with communities and individuals, we are exploring the nature and importance of personal keepsakes in telling migration stories. Read more
The past few months have been an occasion for raking over the past and sifting through memories. Elzbieta Piekacz – a photographer who has documented many of our exhibitions and events – has been going over her past, recalling a moment when she travelled back to Lviv, the city that her grandparents lived in, to piece together memories, armed only with some photographs left to her by her grandmother. Read more
In this second guest lockdown blog, Tim Smith, a photographer who has written two previous blogs for us and has been ‘with’ us since the start of the Migration Museum Project, sifts through old photos he and his father took of the Caribbean and asks how photographic memories control the narratives we spin of our… Read more
In this period of enforced inactivity, when almost all Migration Museum staff are in furlough, we are running a small number of blogs written by friends of the Museum on subjects related to the current pandemic. The first one, written by Cathy Ross, long-term friend (and distinguished friend) of the Museum, focuses on the capacity… Read more
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi delivered our 2020 lecture at King’s College London, chaired by her friend and fellow peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, exploring the rise of Islamophobia and the challenges of navigating complex currents of religion, identity and allegiance as a British Muslim and a high-profile politician. Read more
A unique archive of photographs which records the changing face of a British industrial city through the 20th century is now being brought to a national audience in a BBC documentary, as Tim Smith, long-term friend and supporter of the Migration Museum, recounts. When the Belle Vue Studio opened in 1926 on Manningham Lane in… Read more
We were told that the absence of a large screen was due to the Extinction Rebellion protests in Westminster Square. The reason for the absence of anything but a small handful of MPs was not given, so we could only speculate: XR as well? Brexit-induced agoraphobia? indifference to the plight of Syria and its citizens?… Read more
The route from south-east Europe to north-west Europe is one taken by thousands of people seeking asylum and refuge from war and persecution. Newspapers constantly present this as a contemporary challenge, but, as this blog illustrates, this is a well-trodden path – for the artist Freya Gabie this route is the basis of a project… Read more
The New Londoners, an exhibition featuring portraits of families from all over the world who call London home, is on display in the Breathing Space café section of the Migration Museum until 27 May. This blog profiles the exhibition, which features the photographs of Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins, a long-term supporter of the Migration Museum.… Read more
This is a short posting about football, but really it’s mostly about forgiveness. At a time when divisions run deep and animosity is in the air, when Crystal Palace’s goalkeeper is apparently ‘desperate’ to learn about the Second World War if only to understand why the Nazi salute he was photographed making might have been… Read more
In April we welcome a new artist in residence to Room to Breathe: the multimedia artist Shorsh Saleh. Shorsh’s display in the art studio inside the exhibition reveals a range of delightful artistic practices, from miniature paintings, installations to carpet weaving. His body of work reflects his layered and complex identity both as an individual… Read more
Ceyda Oskay is the new artist in residence in our current exhibition, Room to Breathe. As with previous artists, we asked Ceyda and the curator in residence of the art studio, Dima Karout, a series of questions and answers to find out more about Ceyda’s artistic practice. Ceyda uses textiles to explore symbolic themes around… Read more
We are approaching the end of our third monthly residency in our current exhibition, Room to Breathe: the New Art Studio, an art therapy practice supporting asylum seekers and refugees in London, will be leaving the gallery on 24 February, and Ceyda Oskay will be moving into the space the following week. In the course… Read more
Much is made of Britain’s reputation for providing refuge for people seeking political asylum but many consider such self-congratulation undeserved, pointing instead to Britain’s relative resistance to taking in Jewish refugees before and during the Second World War, to the small number of Vietnamese boatpeople taken in in the 1970s (in comparison with those taken… Read more
In this guest blog Olivia Bridge considers the contribution EU nationals have made to the museum sector, and what impact the UK’s withdrawal from the EU may have on the culture and heritage industries. Artists and, more generally, people working in the culture and heritage industry have always been conspicuous for their mobility, travelling across… Read more
Room to Breathe at the Migration Museum takes visitors on an immersive journey through a series of interconnected rooms, revealing the multi-layered experience of migrants and refugees arriving in a new country. Intimate personal stories are brought to life through audio recordings of oral histories as visitors go through the different rooms. At the centre… Read more
When people express anxieties about immigration, they tend to do so in terms of its economic, social or cultural effect on the country – and occasionally all three. Of these, the social effect of immigration continues to be the most divisive, with strident voices expressing bitterly opposing views. As far as the other two are… Read more
This is a guest blog by photographer Tim Smith, a long-standing friend of the Migration Museum Project and contributor to our 100 Images of Migration exhibition. He describes the background to Island to Island – Journeys Through the Caribbean, a new exhibition at Leeds Central Library which runs from 27 June until 27 July 2018. A… Read more
© Hugo de la Rosa Paulet
A guest blog by Asher Goodenough, Subject Advisor for History at OCR, on the Moving Stories competition, which the Migration Museum Project ran in partnership with OCR. Read more
The Migration Network is a knowledge-sharing network bringing together organisations from across the UK heritage sector and beyond, featuring a series of regional knowledge-sharing events from Autumn 2020 onwards. Read more
We’ve partnered with Spotify to create a playlist celebrating 72 years of the NHS to mark the announcement of our first major digital exhibition, Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS. Read more
© Migration Museum (Artwork in foreground: Wall © STIK/Thierry Noir)
The Migration Museum aims to reopen in autumn 2020 with the launch of our new exhibition, Departures, exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain. Read more
For Windrush Day 2020, artist EVEWRIGHT took over our Instagram to share details of his new project, Tilbury Walkway of Memories, and throughout the day we shared personal perspectives on what Windrush means to people across our social channels, using the hashtag #Windrushtome. Read more
The Migration Museum stands in solidarity with black communities – in the US, the UK and worldwide. But we must do more than just speak out. Structural racism manifests itself differently in different countries and contexts. Awareness, education and action is vital. We’re sharing some resources that we hope might be useful, informative and inspiring as a starting point. And we’d love to hear your suggestions – get in touch. Read more
The Migration Museum is currently closed to the public due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but we have lots of online content for you to explore from the safety and comfort of your own home during this lockdown period. Read more
The Migration Museum is opening its doors to the public at our new venue in Lewisham on Friday 14 February at 11am. To mark our launch, we’re sharing a selection of personal stories. Read more
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi delivered our 2020 lecture at King’s College London, chaired by her friend and fellow peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, exploring the rise of Islamophobia and the challenges of navigating complex currents of religion, identity and allegiance as a British Muslim and a high-profile politician. Read more
The Migration Museum is embarking on a six-month collaborative residency with Kings College London’s (KCL) Arts and Humanities Research Institute (AHRI). Read more
The Migration Museum in Lewisham is now open. We’ll be staging an exciting series of exhibitions, events and activities in 2020 from a large new venue in the heart of Lewisham Shopping Centre. Read more
After a fantastic two and a half years, our Migration Museum at The Workshop is now closed to the public. As we gear up for a move to an exciting new venue in 2020 – more details coming soon – we wanted to look back at some of the highlights of our time on Lambeth… Read more
This autumn, we partnered with The National Archives, the London Metropolitan Archives and the National Trust to bring our visitors a Family History Day with a difference. Read more
This summer, we joined forces with the Black Prince Trust (BPT), Vauxhall One and Kick It Out to present the first Borderless Cup Lambeth, an inclusive football and basketball tournament for Lambeth residents and community organisations. Read more
© Rudy Hajjar
Our initial staging of our Room to Breathe exhibition at the Migration Museum at The Workshop in Lambeth in 2018/19 served as a setting for a series of residencies by migrant artists. Read a selection of interviews with and blog posts about each of the artists, find information on the workshops each artist ran, as well as information on the final group exhibition in summer 2019. Read more
Migrants Mean Business with George Alagiah is a new podcast series from the Migration Museum, in association with Allianz Global Investors, featuring conversations with some of Britain’s most successful business leaders – all of whom have immigrant backgrounds. Read more
© Migration Museum
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, pledged his support for a permanent national Migration Museum in London during a visit to our current venue in Lambeth on June 4. Read more
We have teamed up with exam board OCR to re-launch Moving Stories, a national competition for History GCSE students who are studying OCR’s module on ‘Migration to Britain’ in 2019/20. Read more
The Migration Museum commissioned a review to provide an overview of migration-related work being undertaken by museums and heritage sites nationally, to explore some of the motivations for the museum sector to address migration and the challenges faced in doing so, and to provide an initial basis and context for participants in the Migration Network 2020/21 to explore further. Read more
© Elzbieta Piakacz
Episode 3 of Migrants Mean Business features Karen Blackett, UK Country Manager for WPP and Chairwoman of MediaCom, in conversation with David Abraham Read more
Episode 2 of Migrants Mean Business features a conversation between George Alagiah and entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE. Lloyd founded Travelex at the age of 24 from one small shop in London and grew it to become the world’s largest foreign exchange specialist. Lloyd and George’s wide-ranging conversation explores Lloyd’s business and philanthropic career, his family roots and Jewish identity, the essence of entrepreneurialism and whether one ever stops being a ‘migrant’. Read more
To kick off our Migrants Mean Business series, we’ve got a cracking conversation with one of the most charismatic and recognisable business leaders of the past few decades – Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. His conversation with Daniel Franklin, executive and diplomatic editor of The Economist, ranges from shipping to dog walking, suing Netflix to going head to head with Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary. Read more
To mark the launch of The Good Immigrant USA, its editor Chimene Suleyman and contributors to the best-selling UK edition Inua Ellams and Darren Chetty joined us at the Migration Museum in March 2019 to read from the new collection of essays and compare the current state of discussions and debates around identity, culture, language and belonging on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more
Migration has a major impact on local communities. In a series of videos produced as part of Migration Making Places, Making People: New Narratives of Inclusion, a partnership project between COMPAS, The Open University, the Migration Museum Project and Counterpoints Arts, key policymakers, researchers and practitioners discuss issues ranging from solidarity to challenges migrants face and… Read more
Historian, producer, presenter and Migration Museum trustee David Olusoga delivered our 2018 Annual Lecture at SOAS on 22 November 2018, arguing that, to make sense of contemporary Britain, we need to recover the global aspects of our history and culture. Read more
A selection of audio food stories from our Room to Breathe exhibition. Read more
Journalist and author Gary Younge looks at how immigration is understood in the current age and what the consequences are in terms of migration, social anxiety and democracy. Read more
We've put together a helpful guide to help you begin to explore your family tree and the stories hidden within, including questions to ask your relatives and a family tree outline to print off and fill in. We have also highlighted some great online resources to help you dig even further.
We have created a visual story to help teachers plan your journey to the museum and to familiarise yourself with the various areas and exhibitions.
This teachers' guide is designed to help you plan your visit to the Migration Museum in order for your students to get the most out of the experience.
