Placing the human viewpoint and personal
stories at the heart of its programme,
the Museum of the Home will work in
collaboration with external groups, including
the local community in east London, to
create a more modern, accurate and
inclusive understanding of contemporary
living. The new Home Galleries will showcase
works and projects including:
Sonia Solicari, Director, Museum of the
Home, says: I can’t wait to welcome visitors,
old and new, next summer to explore the
Museum of the Home and to celebrate this
new chapter in the Museum’s history. Our
new displays, spaces and stories will be a
starting point for ideas and conversation
about what home means. I hope every visitor
will feel at home here and be able to relate
their own experiences and ideas of home to
the stories we share. • Shelf Life - a new film revealing how our
homes reflect our identity, created in
collaboration with the Museum’s Faith &
Culture Forum
Expanded buildings and new spaces
The renovation of the original Grade-1 listed
Geffrye Almshouses and the development
of new spaces, masterminded by Wright
& Wright Architects, will create double
the space for exhibitions, events and
collections. The redevelopment will include:
• A new entrance directly opposite Hoxton
Station, a street-facing café with terrace
and much improved visitor reception and
facilities
• A new Learning Pavilion and Studio which
will allow more people of all ages and
abilities to take part in the Museum’s
award-winning learning programme and
activities
• Direct, all-year-round access to the
Gardens Through Time and a brand new
eco-friendly roof garden
• A new Collections Library overlooking the
front gardens which will open up public
access to the Museum’s extensive archive
and collections for the first time
Home Galleries
New vision
Alongside this physical transformation,
the Museum will reopen with a refreshed
identity as the Museum of the Home -
created by cultural brand consultancy dn&co
- signalling an evolution in focus from the
historical to include more contemporary and
diverse perspectives. More broadly, through
a wide-ranging programme of festivals,
talks, events, performances exhibitions and
collaborations, the Museum will respond to
national and global narratives about themes
relating to home including topical and urgent
issues such as homelessness, immigration,
mental health, and the environment. The
reimagined Museum will provide a space for
visitors to consider the ways we have lived
in the past in order to explore creative ideas
about new ways of living and looking at the
world.
New exhibition spaces will be created in
the lower ground floor of the almshouses.
Named the Home Galleries, they will run
the full length of the building, providing part
of the 80% additional space to exhibit the
Collection. The permanent thematic displays
will explore people’s everyday experiences of
home life over the past 400 years, weaving
together historical and contemporary
narratives about the home and exploring
diverse, thought-provoking and personal
stories.
The displays will include archival
photographs, textiles, furniture, hand-crafted
objects, massproduced artefacts, prints,
film, audio recordings, historical catalogues,
contemporary photography, and much more.
Themes will encompass diverse cultures
and religions, styles and aesthetic tastes,
domestic gender roles, homelessness and
migration, house work and entertainment,
as well as remarkable tales of love and loss
that span the centuries.
• The Museum’s Documenting Homes
Collection, which comprises stories,
interviews and photographs that record
home circumstances over the past 100
years
• In the Garden - a photographic series
of older Hackney residents by Sophie
Verhagen that serve as a reminder of the
love, reward and frustration gardens can
create
• Love & Loss - exploring the relationships
that shape our sense of belonging,
through historic paintings and
contemporary photographs
Contemporary programme
The Museum will relaunch with a
reinvigorated focus on contemporary
programming, partnering with a diverse
range of emerging and established artists,
designers and performers to create new
and unique works that reflect the theme of
home.
The first commission of Summer 2020
will be an immersive sound installation
by internationally renowned writer Maria
Fusco which will respond to objects in the
new Home Galleries and explore ideas of
materiality and absence.
Fundraising campaign
With £600k of the total £18.1m left to
raise, the Museum is launching Sow a
Seed, an online fundraising campaign on
Wednesday 27 November 2019 via www.
museumofthehome.org.uk.
Visitors, old and new, as well as gardening
enthusiasts across the country will be
encouraged to support the replanting of the
Gardens Through Time. Donations will fund
the planting of new bulbs, bushes and trees
and will return the gardens to their former
glory.
The National Heritage Lottery Fund
has granted £12.3m to support the
redevelopment. Arts Council England has
granted £147K towards the new Studio
to help the Museum expand its public
programming and engagement.
Significant support towards the capital
campaign has also been secured from major
donors, trusts and foundations, corporations
and individuals.
museumofthehome.org.uk
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