Hastings Museum & Art Gallery wins prestigious Museum Association award

We are delighted to announce that Hastings Museum & Art Gallery has won Best Small Museum Project Award for its partnership project with the Refugee Buddy Project, “Illuminating Invisible Histories: Flavours Without Borders”.

The project sought to raise awareness of refugee experiences in Hastings and St Leonards, increase co-collaboration, and co-produce programming with community organisations to broaden the museum’s offering and draw in new audiences.

Two dinner parties took place at the museum, where 20 participants brought homemade food and personal objects. Through food and facilitated conversation, an intergenerational and multinational community shared their untold stories of their culture and life in Hastings. Their insights were captured on film for viewing during Refugee Week this Summer. Alongside the film screening, the guests’ objects were displayed at the museum along with testimony about their journeys as told through their personal objects.

The project will continue to develop through 2024/25 with two 20-day placements by members of the community, working with museum staff on reinterpreting the gallery’s permanent display about life in Hastings.

Cllr Julia Hilton, Leader of Hastings Borough Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted that this project has won this award. The work Hastings Museum & Art Gallery have done with the Refugee Buddy Project on this is an excellent example of how the museum works with a wide range of communities and encourages everyone to come and enjoy what is on offer there. As one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations, our work is made possible by taxpayers, so we want to thank the public for their support: this is your space, so please come enjoy it!”

Rossana Leal, CEO, The Refugee Buddy Project Hastings, Rother & Wealden, said: “I’m so excited to be taking this award back to our home in Hastings.”

Alice Roberts-Pratt, Museum & Collections Manager, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery said: “We’re immensely proud have won this prestigious award, it really reflects the hard work the team have put in to ensure Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is a welcoming place for everyone. Our work with the Refugee Buddy Project is incredibly valuable and we are so grateful to Rossana Leal, her team, and the participants for sharing their personal stories with us and being so open to collaboration.”

Fiona Slater, Head of Access and Equity - Science Museum, one of the four judges: “We absolutely loved this inspiring project – it worked with Refugee Buddy Project to bring people together to tell their stories of migration over shared food. They documented stories in a film and donated personal objects that were then displayed in the Museum to highlight, as they so beautifully put it, that we have more in common than divides us.”

Steve Miller, President of the Museums Association: “I am thrilled to celebrate the achievement of our four winners in Leeds. They represent some of the most inspiring work being done in the UK museum sector. These awards are a fantastic way for us to recognise some of the best practice in museums and initiatives making a difference to our communities.”

Sharon Heal, Director of the Museums Association: “The judges of this year’s competition had an incredibly hard task in picking these four winners because so many museums across the UK are doing ambitious and trailblazing work in partnership with their communities, and I think that’s a testament to the value of museums.”