Exhibition & Displays

2009 Growing Up Black – a photographic exhibition by Dennis Morris
A unique and poignant collection of photographs depicting the West Indian

2011 Our African Roots
Objects and stories from the museum collections featured in the temporary

2015 - Hackney@50
50 objects, 50 stories, 50 years of Hackney
In 1965, the London

2015 African Threads Hackney Style
This exhibition explored Hackney’s historic ties with Africa through fabric

2016 - Sharing Our Stories: Jewish Stamford Hill, 1930s-1950s
For the last 350 years. Hackney has been home to a significant Jewish

2022 We Are All In This Together - Hackney During The Pandemic
The world as we know it changed in 2020. The global Covid-19 pandemic

On display: 01 City limits
Hackney was once a group of quiet villages - an ideal place for wealthy

On display: 02 Free speech
Hackney was once on the edge of London, outside the control of the City

On display: 03 Safe haven
For hundreds of years Hackney has provided a refuge for people from other

On display: 04 A place to find work
The chance to find a job has been one of the main reasons why people have come

On display: 05 A place to do business
For centuries Hackney has been convenient place to settle and start a new

On display: 06 A place to live
Hackney has traditionally been able to offer cheap housing to new arrivals.

On display: 07 No choice
Some people found themselves in Hackney through no choice of their own. These

On display: 08 Street level
Generations of settlers have left their mark on Hackney. Their influence can

On display: 09 A sense of community
Arriving in a new place with a different culture and language can be difficult

On display: 10 Moving on
This has always been a mobile population. Roma, gypsys and travellers were

On Display: Highlights
Explore some of the highlights in our permanent display.