The Migration Museum is embarking on a six-month collaborative residency with Kings College London’s (KCL) Arts and Humanities Research Institute (AHRI).

This collaborative residency will coincide with the Migration Museum’s move to a new temporary home in the heart of Lewisham Shopping Centre, bringing the museum’s offer to new mass audiences.

Through student placements, PHD and research briefs, the Migration Museum will provide KCL with insight into creative public engagement, assisting in making academic research more accessible and helping KCL become a truly civic university. We will also be sharing our experience of capturing peoples’ stories and creating meaningful maintained relationships with people and communities.

KCL’s AHRI, in return, will provide the Migration Museum with academic oversight, steering, evaluation and support, as well as guidance and expertise on the museum’s academic direction.

The aims and ethos of the Migration Museum and AHRI are closely aligned: King’s College London’s identity as a civic university aligns closely with the Migration Museum’s vision to create a society that feels connected to and owns our shared migration story as an essential part of British history. This residency builds on several successful collaborations between the two institutions, including a joint project exploring the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in museum settings.

We kick-started this residency by hosting our sell-out Annual Lecture at KCL, delivered by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and chaired by Baroness Shami Chakrabarti.