Refugee Week Art Installation

Come and see a free art display at the National Maritime Museum to mark Refugee Week.

Centred around the theme, 'Our Home', the artwork was created by English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students from Lewisham College who have experienced migration.

The installation can be seen in the Rethink space, located on the ground floor of the National Maritime Museum.

About the display

This thought-provoking display is the result of a creative collaboration between Royal Museums Greenwich and Lewisham College.

Tutor Rebecca Galbraith and artist Michelle Butcher worked closely with the students to uncover what ‘home’ meant to them; whether it was a place, a person, a smell, a sound, a feeling or a taste. 

Students also learnt how to make their own pinhole cameras from drinks cans with photographer Arek Golosz. They used these to create self-portraits, thinking about self as home. The portraits were transferred on to clear acetate sheets, representing the transience of their experience, along with text that tells stories of their journeys and dislocation.

Together the artworks create a shared emotional understanding between the young people as they rebuild their lives in south-east London.