The Migration Museum has teamed up with five museums and galleries to launch our Community Curators programme. We are delighted to be working with Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, the Food Museum, Glasgow Life Museums, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, and the Museum of Free Derry to host our 10 Community Curators in 2026-7. 

This project brings diverse voices, lived experiences, and perspectives into the creation of a series of displays and creative outputs exploring migration themes in 2027– and will inform the Migration Museum’s exhibitions in our permanent home, launching in 2028.

The response to our initial call-out blew us away. More than 285 people from across the UK applied to become Community Curators, all passionate about working with local communities and championing local talent.

Our 10 Community Curators are already hard at work. Over the coming weeks and months, they’ll be:

– Undertaking a bespoke curatorial training programme
– Researching stories, commissioning artworks, and developing new creative work
– Engaging with local communities to support inclusive storytelling
– Working with their partner museum to develop a local creative output on migration
– Helping to deliver workshops and related events

We’ve already learned so much together, and we can’t wait to see what this passionate, talented group comes up with.

Read on to meet our Community Curators, and watch this space for more info on the creative outputs …

Meet our Community Curators

Mymona Bibi (Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art)

I’m a writer, ESOL teacher, and creative facilitator based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

My writing is currently concerned with cities, migration, home, desire and social inequality in urban landscapes. Alongside an interest in community-led arts projects, my creative writing initiatives often connect migrant communities across the North East. Through my work with World Writes at the John Marley Centre and the Kittiwake Multilingual Library, my practice responds to the shifting needs of migrants from every continent, and connecting people to the wider diaspora experience.

With a particular interest in making cultural spaces more accessible to people whose voices are often overlooked, I’m excited to be joining the Community Curators programme, to work on participatory approaches in museums, particularly how lived experience and migrant perspectives can shape the stories institutions tell. I’m looking forward to sharing knowledge and exploring the intersections of art and social justice.

Zilan Kuzu (Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art)

I’m a Newcastle-based painter and recent Fine Art graduate from Northumbria University. My work explores diasporic identity, migration and belonging, shaped by my lived experience. Alongside my painting practice, I’ve contributed to community-focused projects, including BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art’s We All Came Here From Somewhere exhibition.

 

Brian Powlett (Food Museum)

I’m a chef, nutritionist, educator and community facilitator based in Suffolk. After more than 30 years working in food and hospitality, I’ve become increasingly interested in the stories, people and communities that sit behind the food we eat. I’m a registered Associate Nutritionist and have a particular interest in bringing food, health and practical cooking together. Alongside my nutrition work, I work in education and community projects, using food as a way of bringing people together, encouraging conversation and creating opportunities to learn. My work has also taken me into the arts and cultural sector. I’ve been a Global Majority Audience Ambassador with DanceEast and have worked with AMPP Studio on its Urban Campfire project, using food as a starting point for connection and conversation with young people. I’ve also been involved with SPILL Festival and projects exploring Windrush and migration. For me, food is about much more than what is on the plate. It can tell us about where we come from, where we have travelled, the people we have met and the communities we have built.

I’m excited to be part of this project and to bring my experience of food, education, culture and community to the Community Curators programme. I’m particularly looking forward to listening to and sharing the stories that connect migration, food and communities across Suffolk.

Eiko Battersby (Food Museum)

Originally from Japan, I’ve lived in the UK for over 30 years. My background is in dietetics and nutrition – having worked as a registered dietitian in Japan and earning a BSc in Nutritional Therapy in the UK – though I currently work in education. I’m deeply passionate about global foods, diverse cultures, and community stories, and I’m thrilled to be a Community Curator!

 

Iman Afaq (Glasgow Life Museums)

I am a Scottish Indian Pakistani creative, born in Glasgow, in 1998. My grandparents migrated to Glasgow in the 1960s. My mum is from Karachi, Pakistan and my dad was born in Ghaziabad, India.

I was a member of Glasgow Museums’ Intercultural Youth Group, where I assisted on a number of projects, including the pilot episode of the ICY podcast discussing ‘how arts and museums can help reduce loneliness’, and contributed to a panel discussion at the Glasgow Mela. I have facilitated and developed workshops inspired by work exhibiting in the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) focusing on Glasgow’s history and links to slavery and empire, and highlighting Glasgow’s diverse cultural society. I was grateful to be a part of a community exhibition called ‘I am from everywhere’ developed by the ICY group and staff at GoMA. Currently, I have been working on a community display launching this winter at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, creating artwork that reflects my home life and my familles migration story. I also work as a manager of a charity shop and have a BSc Hons in Immunology & Microbiology. I am interested in theatre and theatre practices and have been attending workshops through Bijli Porductions at The Citz.

Through the Community Curators programme, I would love to develop my own craft whilst helping the community to celebrate their stories. I believe that access to the arts should be for all and sharing our lived experiences through museums and the arts can enhance learning for all.

 

Sean Wai Keung (Glasgow Life Museums)

I am a Glasgow-based writer, performance maker and community creative. My work is often interested in food, migration, hospitality and community. My debut poetry collection sikfan glaschu was published by Verve Poetry Press in 2021 and I have also had written work published in numerous journals and anthologies.

I have co-created community-focussed performances with organisations including the National Theatre of Scotland, Tramway and Deveron Projects, and my solo cookery and spoken word show, A History of Fortune Cookies, received the Autopsy Award 2024 from Summerhall and Feral Arts. My 2025 writing and installation project, A Grieving Table, was made in response to the Perspectives: Collecting the World exhibition at ANGUSalive museums, and aimed to encourage emotional response within a museum environment.

 

Kheya Moulton (Hastings Museum & Art Gallery)

I have spent much of my life in Sussex along the coast, but I call Brighton my home. My grandfather, a proud South African Indian who actively opposed the apartheid regime, migrated to the UK with his young family for safety. I have kept my family’s story in mind as I navigate being both British and South African Indian and it has informed my personal values and the community work I have done.

I have been lucky to have worked within the local community for over ten years, focusing on social justice through advocacy and support roles in services such as Education, Youth Work and Women Centres for at-risk children, young people and adults. The nature of this work means I get to meet a wide range of individuals with varying backgrounds and lived experiences, with some of whom I share similar stories and others I learn something new. I have championed anti-racist and intersectional feminist practice within the organisations I have worked for, and have worked closely with service users so as to shape services to meet their needs. I am also a Ceramicist, and spend my spare time making sculptural and installation pieces inspired by personal stories from survivors of domestic abuse. By taking artwork about domestic abuse into art galleries, it shifts the idea that it is a private matter to a public issue, calling for action.

I am excited to use my experience and skills for the Migration Museum and for Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, working once again within the community to bring forth stories, shared experiences and personal insight into public spaces, aiding public understanding and creating a shared sense of belonging. Migration to and through the UK is as important to understand now as it has ever been.

 

Sarah Buller (Hastings Museum & Art Gallery)

I am a creative practitioner, project manager and community facilitator based in St Leonards-on-Sea, with over a decade of experience working across the arts, heritage and charity sectors. I have worked with organisations including Collage Arts, London Youth, The Lotus Flower, the Refugee Buddy Project and the Bright Foundation, delivering projects supported by funders including the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Greater London Authority, European Social Fund and National Lottery Community Fund.

My work focuses on community engagement, creative storytelling and championing underrepresented voices, particularly those of refugees, migrants, women and young people. Recent projects include the award-winning Flavours Without Borders with Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and Stitch for Change, celebrating the creativity and experiences of communities from a refugee and migrant background.

Alongside my community work, I DJ as Chabala, bringing together sounds from across the diaspora and connecting people through music.

 

Sarah Kay (The Museum of Free Derry)

I am a human rights law expert who has worked in the fields of counter-extremism amongst others. I am a racial equality advocate and have a cat named James Connolly.

 

Séan Nelis (The Museum of Free Derry)

I am a history enthusiast, a political activist, and storyteller from Derry. My interest lies in learning more about the history, culture, and political life of the city that I call home. I come from a family steeped in the story of the civil rights movement, and have grown up surrounded by discussions relating to socio-economic justice. This drove me to getting involved in activism myself and is why I take pride in being a member of Community Action Tenants Union. I studied Professional Sound and Video Technology at the University of Salford and have always had a keen interest in storytelling through audiovisual mediums of expression. 

I love getting deep into discussions unpacking the political and socio-historical context of media, and I am always developing my taste of music, listening to different sounds from around the world. I have previously worked at the Peacemakers’ Museum located in the Bogside. Having the opportunity to tell the story of my town to folks from all around the world was an experience I cherished.

My only goal in life is to feel like I have contributed to my community and the lives of those around me.

 

About the Community Curators programme

Find out more about our Community Curators programme

About our Partners

Find out more about our Community Curators partners

Supported by:

This programme is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Thanks to National Lottery players. The programme is also generously supported by funding from University College London’s Institute of Education.