WHO WE ARE
Museum of Homelessness (MoH) was founded in 2015 and is created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness.
Museum of Homelessness, led by our community, does four things:
We make tomorrow’s history by building the national collection for homelessness
We take direct practical action in support of the community
We fight injustice with our independent research and campaigning
We educate on homelessness by working with artists and creatives to make unforgettable art, exhibitions and events.
Museum of Homelessness crew take a break from installing Truths of the Last Ten Years, 2019 Photo: Jess Turtle
Jess and Matt Turtle take Museum of Homelessness Collection to the Streets, London 2020 Photo: Islington Tribune
Museum of Homelessness crew receive Museums and Heritage Award for Temporary Exhibition of the Year 2022
Museum of Homelessness collection items displayed in protest outside the Home Office, 2020 Photo: Richard Matthews
Creative Associate Lisa Ogun performs the story of the Bottle at Shock to the System, Union Chapel, 2019 Photo: Richard Matthews
Museum of Homelessness Core Group members take a break from filming 'Objectified,' 2018
Image: Our Homeless Taskforce volunteers Yusuf and Siobhan take supplies to the streets in lockdown 1, 2020.
Our Journey
After being setup in 2015, our first public launch was at Tate Modern in 2017. Since then MoH has worked in Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London. We have created and produced unforgettable artistic work. We have campaigned for the rights of people who are homeless. From the earliest moments of the pandemic, we repurposed all our activity and resources to provide emergency support during the pandemic, forming a Homeless Taskforce with our partners Streets Kitchen, the Outside Project and the Simon Community. In 2021 we made an artistic experience Secret Museum, which documented and shared the pandemic on the margins.
Here are some highlights from the journey so far:
Co-founders Matt and Jess and collaborating artist David Tovey are featured in the New York Times, to highlight State of the Nation, our first ever launch event and campaign launched in 2017.
Co-founder Jess talks about soup, the history of the grassroots scene of care and her own story when she met JP on Saturday Morning Live back in March 2017.
A long read with Inside Housing on the journey of MoH and the hidden history of homelessness.
Film-maker Dorothy Allen-Pickard blends story-telling with science and discussion with the MoH core group, as part of this docu-drama on our Manchester Objectified project. The film was released in late 2018.
in 2019 MoH inherits the Dying Homeless Project from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Our campaigning work on deaths of people who are homeless becomes a continuous and essential part of our work.
In 2020 MoH’s campaigning work with partners Streets Kitchen demanding safe spaces for people to self isolate secures widespread coverage including the BBC: “Coronavirus: ‘Safe spaces’ needed for homeless to self-isolate”. This was adopted as national strategy and around 30,000 people were offered safe space during the pandemic.
MoH is named as one of the awardees for the Calouste Gulbenkian’s first Awards for UK civic arts organisations in 2021, in recognition of its work in the pandemic.
Museum of Homelessness exhibition Secret Museum is named temporary Exhibition of the Year at the 2022 Museums and Heritage Awards
Museum of Homelessness secures permanent home in Manor House Lodge, Finsbury Park and moves onto site in 2023.
OUR TEAM
Directors
Jess Turtle
Matt Turtle
Team
Bekki Perriman (Community Co-ordinator)
Adam R. Hemmings (Operations & Production Manager)
Harry Gay (Creative Projects Manager)
Gill Taylor (Strategic Lead, Dying Homeless Project)
James Vale (Data Lead, Dying Homeless Project)
Creative Associates: Dani Vassall, Benji Lain, Lisa Ogun’, Ben Smithies, Nell Hardy, Paul Atherton, Bullring Bash, gobscure, Steve B, Surfing Sofas, Liv Wynter, Jacob V Joyce, Benji Human, Mariusz Piwinski, Joseph Wilson, Lauren McQuistin, Lorraine Gunter, Ellie Pritchard, Dan Badger, Jarek Kubiak, Ocean, Taffy.
Trustees
Sharon Heal (Chair)
Aderonke Apata
Jane Cook
Eva Datta
Siobhán Forshaw
Katie Langford
Rachael Minott
Alan Ribunal
Richard Sandell
Amara Sharif
Martha Spurrier
Hetty Tapper
Patron
The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam
“It’s had a huge impact on me, on my self esteem. From a few years ago, when I felt invisible, like people didn’t see me. When I was in trouble before, people just said ‘oh I’m sorry’ but now I feel like I’ve met people who really care.…”