ABSTRACT
The Hackney Museum is a community institution located in a London borough that has housed immigrants throughout its history and remains notable for its sizable minority population. Only about a third of the residents describe themselves as “white British” (London Borough of Hackney Policy Team 2014). Almost 37 percent of children come from low-income families (Hackney Council 2004, 3). The museum is housed on the ground floor of a new Technology and Learning Centre adjacent to the town hall, along with a public library and offices related to education. It is small but welcoming and inclusive in its presentation of diverse groups that have settled in the area. By maintaining a strong sense of place, it avoids pitfalls common to other museums and exhibitions focusing on migration:
• the flattening of multiple voices through the inclusion of many; • approaching its subjects from a binary perspective that emphasizes vic-
timhood or victory over adversity to the neglect of everyday experiences; • nostalgia for idealized visions of prior homes; • a purely celebratory approach.
