Museum of the Home have announced that they will launch their first Art Happens crowdfunding campaign to help uncover stories of queer domesticity and create a queer home in their galleries. The online donation campaign is in collaboration with Art Happens, a crowdfunding platform run by Art Fund, and hopes to raise £10k to acquire the objects needed to create new room sets which will explore making and finding home in London in the 2000s.
The campaign will run from Sunday 4th February to Monday 4th March 2024. The public are encouraged to donate between £5 and £995 in return for exclusive rewards which include tea towels, badges and prints from LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as invitations to private tours and the preview event of the new rooms.
As a key community contributing to the life, culture and politics of Hackney, LGBTQIA+ people need more diverse and permanent representation in Museum of the Home’s galleries. This targeted acquisition of objects will capture the everyday lived experiences of the recent past, often overlooked by traditional museum funders and at risk of being discarded without active research and collecting.
The development of the new rooms has been a collaborative effort, co-curated through community consultation events, drop-ins, and workshops. A narrative has emerged, telling the story of Alex, Sara, and Ashley; residents of an ex-council flat in Hackney. The Museum will showcase a snapshot of their daily lives, adorning the flat with club ephemera.
This development is part of the Museum’s Real Rooms project, bringing to life seven new stories which widely reflect the rich stories and communities that have called East London home over the centuries. The project embraces co-curatorial methods and centres personal stories, taking inspiration from oral histories and lived experience.
Museum of the Home invites the public to be part of this groundbreaking campaign, supporting the preservation of LGBTQIA+ history and culture in London.
Sonia Solicari, Director of Museum of the Home, comments, As a museum committed to revealing the diverse ways we make home, this Art Happens crowdfunding campaign allows us to bring the often-overlooked narratives of the LGBTQIA+ community to the fore.
