People's Museum Somers Town — Attraction in London

The People’s Museum Somers Town is an important model for documenting and giving physical form to a place, neighborhood and community. I enjoyed an informative walking tour with Steve McCarthy, and especially appreciated the opportunity to meet and learn about the lives of several residents who have shared history and objects with this extraordinary community museum. Go and see this if you are interested in urban planning, social history, cultural heritage, architecture, public art, or effective community engagement programming and projects. The physical space/collection is a treasure trove deserving of a larger space to display its holdings (I’m envisioning the addition of storage/conservation space and a “reading” room where objects and archived materials could be studied and discussed). This is a special combination of people, place and vision of what a collective dedicated to “living history” can accomplish. I could have spent another full day looking through the objects and on-site book/publications collection. I look forward to a return visit on my next...

This museum is a real gem that showcases the histories of the Somers Town neighbourhood since the 1700s until present day. These histories are illustrated through objects and testimonies and newspaper fragments and other various items that hint at the diverse tapestry of the lives of everyday working class people in this part of Camden. They also have a “Radical Wall” where you can see the neighbourhood’s history of activism and social movements. When I visited, they also had an exhibit on Kantha, a form of embroidery and textile art by Bengali women (Bangladeshis making up an important part of the neighbourhoods current population).

The staff is incredibly friendly, and the museum host La lots of cool community engagement events. Also they serve coffee! Well...

Awestruck by the wonderful vibrant collection of work in the museum and loved being introduced to Keith Armstrong's typewriter art in the short time I was between trains here. Will certainly return and felt embarrassingly citynumbed in myself not even asking the volunteers their names, whose passion was supremely evident. And that got me thinking about several things...community obviously as there was a joyous connection here but also those fantastic Nail houses in Japan with their aura of resistance and overwhelming joy despite how dilapidated they are. And warm human contact, not that blank silence much evident in the dour faces of my fellow passengers on their screens on their way back...