Curating London

Curating London will change how the museum collects 21st century London. It also seeks to recruit staff from a broader range of backgrounds and professional experience and puts Londoners at the heart of our collecting practice by working in partnership with local communities. From physical objects to interviewing Londoners about their own histories and memories, Curating London will capture, collect and record contemporary London.

The project started in April 2018 and runs until March 2022.

Each year the museum will begin four projects: three area studies of particular areas and one themed study that spans the whole of London.

Current and upcoming projects

Brexit Talks, February to March 2019

Brexit could dramatically affect London's place in the world and we have yet to know what the long-lasting effects on the city's people will be. We have a once-in-a-generation moment to capture the feeling of the city in the run-up to the final deal being struck in March 2019.

Brexit Talks is gathering videos of people’s answers to the question ‘How has Brexit changed your relationship with London?’ through fieldwork and through social media.

Find out how to get involved in the Brexit Talks project.

Data Flow – Michael Takeo Magruder, February to December 2019

We are commissioning a digital artwork from artist Michael Takeo Magruder that will be displayed as part of the Secret Rivers exhibition. The digital artwork will use data about the River Lea from the Environment Agency together with creative responses to the river developed in a series of workshops with families, schools and young people to create a digital ‘flow’ of data.

WE THE PEOPLE, January to July 2019

WE THE PEOPLE is a project working with young people to look at the ways that ordinary citizens can change the way that city life is organised. They will research particular initiatives in Lambeth and interview key people associated with them in order to make a film. The ultimate output to the project is a series of five free screenings of the film at various venues across Lambeth.

Details of future projects will be shared here once confirmed.

What do you think we should collect next? Email your suggestions to [email protected].