Major new exhibition highlights how migration has shaped who we are in Britain – as individuals, as communities and as a nation

All Our Stories is a new exhibition opening on 12 September 2024 at the Migration Museum in London, shining a light on how central migration has always been to our lives in Britain through immersive installations, art, film, photography, personal stories and keepsakes.

All Our Stories brings together highlights from the Migration Museum’s work over the past decade, alongside new stories and artwork that explore the many ways in which migration has shaped who we are – as individuals, as communities, and as a nation.

Visitors will embark on an immersive journey exploring the reasons why people migrate, experiences of arriving and settling, and questions of identity and belonging. Throughout the exhibition, historical moments are explored alongside contemporary responses, creating a space for individual and collective reflection, exploration and conversation.

This major new exhibition from the award-winning curatorial team at the Migration Museum features immersive installations, new commissions and interactive pieces including (see Notes for a full list of contributors):

• A Chinese takeaway installation guest-curated by author Angela Hui, inspired by her experiences growing up behind the counter of her parents’ takeaway in Wales.
  
• A tent showcasing stories, artwork and sounds from the former refugee camp in Calais
  
• A vending machine with a difference, showcasing ‘quintessentially British’ brands with migration stories.
  
• Artistic responses to migration experiences including the Windrush Scandal, British emigration to Australia, Liverpool’s Chinese seamen community, and mixed-race identity.
  
• A newly commissioned film illuminating key migration moments throughout history by award-winning filmmaker and animator Osbert Parker.
  
• A room-sized imaginary departure lounge by artist Jiro Osuga, interspersing fantastical and historical characters among the travellers waiting to board their flights.
  
• All That I Am, a large-scale artwork by contemporary artists The Singh Twins paying homage to their father’s migration journey.
  
• An artistic response by Shorsh Saleh, former artist-in-residence at the Migration Museum, focusing on the current and predicted impact of the climate emergency on migration.

Visitors to All Our Stories will be invited to explore the Migration Museum’s archive of migration stories and share their own. The exhibition also provides a space to learn more about the Migration Museum’s aims and future plans as it moves towards a permanent site in central London, opening in 2027/8.

Migration often hits the headlines and sparks heated political and online debates, as shown earlier this summer in Britain. “In the light of recent racist violence targeting migrant communities and ethnic minorities across the UK and with the museum moving towards a permanent central London site, this exhibition couldn’t be more timely or important,” said Aditi Anand, Artistic Director at the Migration Museum and lead curator of the exhibition.

”All Our Stories uses history as a way to illuminate our current moment and spark conversations about the kind of society we can be. The exhibition captures the individual lives and experiences – the everyday and the extraordinary – of people living through moments in history. At the same time, we also wanted to zoom out and look at the long history of migration to and from these shores across the centuries, putting into perspective what can seem like uniquely contemporary concerns.”

Sophie Henderson, CEO of the Migration Museum, said: “On an almost daily basis, we see how conversations about migration, race and belonging can become heated and polarising. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

The Migration Museum’s goal has always been to highlight our shared history of migration in Britain, which stretches back centuries. The movement of people across the ages has profoundly shaped our landscapes and cities, our diets and fashions, our language and culture, and our ideas and beliefs. Migration goes to the heart of who we are today. And we all have a personal connection to this story.

That’s why we’re working to create an inspiring, permanent cultural institution that puts our shared migration story centre stage. Through this exhibition, we invite people to join us on this journey.”

All Our Stories opens at the Migration Museum’s current venue in Lewisham, south-east London, on 12 September 2024, and runs until the end of 2025. It will be accompanied by a programme of events, including talks, lectures, workshops and day-long festivals exploring themes ranging from food to family history. It will run alongside the Migration Museum’s new community curated exhibition Inside/Outside and All In Between.

All Our Stories is the Migration Museum’s last major exhibition in Lewisham before it moves to its permanent home in the City of London. The permanent Migration Museum will be part of an ecosystem encompassing temporary venues across the UK, a digital storytelling platform, and partnerships with other museums, galleries and heritage sites to platform and amplify migration stories across the UK.

The Migration Museum’s previous exhibition, Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS, won Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year at the Museums+Heritage Awards 2024.

Notes

Where and when

All Our Stories: Migration and the Making of Britain opens to the public at the Migration Museum in Lewisham, south London, on 12 September 2024. The exhibition will be open to the public until December 2025.

Opening hours and admission

The Migration Museum is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 11am until 5.30pm. Admission is free – no booking.

Address

Migration Museum
Lewisham Shopping Centre (Central Square) 
London SE13 7HB

For more visitor information, please visit: https://www.migrationmuseum.org/visit/

Website and social media

Website:www.migrationmuseum.org 
Instagram: @MigrationMuseumUK  
Threads:@MigrationMuseumUK 
X:@MigrationMuseum 
Facebook:MigrationMuseumUK  
TikTok:@MigrationMuseumUK 
Hashtag:#AllOurStories

Acknowledgments

Every exhibition at the Migration Museum is co-produced with hundreds of people. Thank you to all those listed below as well as many others who helped shape All Our Stories and the previous exhibitions that fed into this one.

Artists and Photographers

Andy Barter, Angélica Dass, Becky-Dee Trevenen, Charlie Phillips, Chris Barrett, Chris Porsz, Chris Steele-Perkins, Christian Sinibaldi, Colin O’Brien, Daniel Castro Garcia, Dawn Parsonage, Hannah Ajala, Ella Krispel, Emmanuel Sugo, Evewright, Habib Sadat, Hannah Rose Thomas, Hester Yang, Howard Davies, Jenny Matthews, Jiro Osuga, Kaia Laurielle, Kajal Nisha Patel, Karen Arthur, Kate Anderson, Keymea Yazdanian, Laurie Hill, Lisa Ebert, Liz Gerard, Louise Daneels, Mary Turner, Maryna Sulym, Maya Ramsay, Nadina Ali, Nick Ellwood and Kamal Kaan, Osbert Parker and Luke Ramsay, Paul Trevor, Rachelle Romeo, Raju Vaidyanathan, Rob Pinney, Rob Szeliga, Shorsh Saleh, Sue McAlpine, The Singh Twins, Tim Smith

Storytellers

Abhijay Ranjan, Adil Akram, Adjoa Manu, Ahmad al-Rashid, Alvin Chung, Amanda Hilton , Amel, Andrew Meyerson, Angela Hui, Anh Ming, Andrey Sidelnikov, Antonia , Antonio Nigro, Asma Khan, Atakan Mercan, Awesome Oyebmiji, Babita Sharma, Bassel Hariri, Bushra Nasir, Carlton Cummins, Carolina Caicedo, Cathyn Robinson, Cheng Luo, Chris Mak, Cliff Walsh, Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley, Dima Karout, Dimple Devadas, Dinusha Dissanayake, Doreen Bourne, Geraldine Maidment, Grace Paseda , Gulzar Waljee, Hamid Shazhad, Hamza Habib, Hargundas Khanchandani, Herman Ouseley, Izzy Obeng, Jael de la Luz , Jennifer Lo, Jun Chan, Jessica Cruz-Hutchings, Juan Delgado, Karamat Iqbal, Karlie Wu, Lea, Lem Lem Haile, Leonardo Alvarado, Lilian, Lisa Lee, Lisbeth Cyriac, Louise Garvey, Mais Peachey, Malgosia Stepnik, Maria Pintado, Mary Barrett, Marysya Rudska, Michael Donkor, Minh Chu, Monica Moscarello, Morris Marah, Muharrem Bora, Muhayman Jamil MBE, Naaman Azhari, Nami, Nasrin Rooghani , Neena Jha, Nicola Turner, Olena, Olive York, Petronio Demillo, Polly Deechuson, Rachel Man, Rita Ohri, Sainabu Jagne, Shan Selvendran, Sir Stephen Sedley, Sonia Quintero , Sophie Herxheimer, Stelio Stefanou, Sukhphal Singh Ahluwalia, Tara Lehmann, Tom Tse, Tew Bunnag, Thais Almeida, Ultan Cowley, Veena Rao, Wen Ying Lee, Winnie Nip, Yaneise Ramos, Yohini Nadakumar

Story collectors

Amar Patel , Eva Tausig, Fatou Marong , Lucia Scazzocchio, Margarita Novikova, Maryna Sulym, Sonia, Kneepkens and Fan Sissoko (Comfort Food), Zeynep Yıldırım

With thanks to

AVID (Association for Visitors in Detention), Bishopsgate Institute, BNO Hongkongers Oral History Team, Dr Michaela Benson, Four Corners and Swadhinata Trust, Idil Asan, Jewish Museum London, Reunite Families UK, Weiner Holocaust Library, Wonderhood Studios

Curatorial and Exhibitions

Aditi Anand, Angela Hui (Takeaway installation) , Ghaf Tajmohammad, Sue McAlpine

Design

Exhibition Identity design: AWMA
Graphic design: Andy Bone, Daniela Zaharieva, Kalina Norton
Digital design: Raül Leiva, Deepreel, Eight Arms
Interactive design: Clay interactive
Sound design: Bill Bingham

Installation

Anita Lanzetta, Bill Bingham, Dio Dunbar, Evie Anderson, Gabrielle Lisk, Gareth Morris-Davies, Huilin Zhang (Lin), InDepth Studios, Isabella Spira, Joel De Mowbray, Joshua Persaud-Walters, Lauren Walker, Max Burstyn, Mike Abrahams, Mingjia Ma, Rui Zhou, Sathyan Chiriyankandath, Syeda Fatima, Xin Li (Monique), Yingfei Zhu (Erin), Zeynep Yildirim

Supported by:

The exhibition is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Dr. Marten’s Foundation, Kusuma Trust and the Linbury Trust. We would also like to thank Landsec for generously enabling us to host our museum at Lewisham Shopping Centre.

About the Migration Museum

The Migration Museum explores how the movement of people to and from Britain across the ages has shaped who we all are – as individuals, as communities and as nations.

We stage interactive, story-led exhibitions and a wide range of events, alongside high-profile digital campaigns and an education programme delivering workshops to thousands of young people each year and reaching millions more across the country via teacher training and partnerships. We also convene a knowledge-sharing Migration Network of museums and galleries across the UK.

Since 2020, the Migration Museum has been based in a dynamic temporary venue in a busy shopping centre in Lewisham, south-east London. After a 10-year journey, the Migration Museum has been given the green light for a new permanent home in central London, in the heart of the City of London. Our new, much larger museum, which we aim to open in 2027/8, will encompass interactive temporary and permanent exhibition galleries, a flexible learning suite and event space, outdoor areas, a cafe/restaurant and shop, enabling us to deliver a wide programme of events, activities, training and volunteering opportunities.

The permanent Migration Museum site in London will be part of an ecosystem encompassing temporary venues across the UK, a digital storytelling platform, and partnerships with other museums, galleries and heritage sites to platform and amplify migration stories across the UK.

Find out more at: migrationmuseum.org

For more information, please contact:
Matthew Plowright
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07585 117 924