The Reassessing What We Collect Project

Aims

This online resource is part of the Museum of London’s Reassessing What We Collect project. The project aims to engage proactively with London’s diverse communities and to develop the Museum’s collections to reflect and record their heritage. London is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.

The 2001 census revealed that 29% of the city’s population was from a minority ethnic group. Cultural diversity also includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals and disabled people. Recent reports have found that all these groups are under represented by London’s cultural institutions.

The Museum of London has long considered diversity to be a core component of its activities.  The exhibition and book ‘The Peopling of London: Fifteen thousand years of settlement from overseas’ appeared in 1993.

‘Peopling’ counters the myth that migration to London is a 20th century post-war phenomenon. It recognises that migration to the capital is an ongoing process dating back to prehistoric times. London’s former position as hub of the British Empire means that the city has increasingly drawn migrants from all over the world.

Site map

Homepage >Texts on London communities > Object images and information

• Catalogue: Search the site using keywords or subjects
• Subjects: List of main communities appearing on the site
• FAQs
  • Bibliography
  • Links to other sites
• About this site
  • Elements of the Project
  • Scope of project
  • List of communities
  • Report
• Essays

Audience

The site is aimed at people from the communities represented, at researchers and at those interested in finding out what the Museum holds relating to diversity.

Continuation

Over the next months we aim to add around 400 more objects to the site.  These will be drawn from the existing collection as well as from new acquisitions and donations. We also hope to develop a number of gallery trails connected with communities featured on this site.

Funders and External Associates

The Museum of London is a member of the London Museums Hub and this project is funded by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council via the Renaissance in the Regions grant scheme. For further information see:
www.mla.gov.uk (leaves current site).

MLA London is working towards developing a collections framework for London museums which puts diversity at the forefront of collecting and displays. ALM London (as they were then called) hosted a joint event with the Museum of London at the Museum in Docklands in November 2005 entitled ‘Revisiting Collections: Revealing Significance’.