Museums should move away from stereotypical stories about homelessness and focus instead on the structural inequality that causes it, according to one of the founders of Britain’s first Museum of Homelessness (MoH).
The museum, whose next exhibition, Objectified, opens at Manchester Art Gallery on World Homeless Day (10 October), joins a raft of other institutions tackling the issue. More than half of homeless families are in work, according to homelessness charity Shelter, but have suffered due to expensive private rents, a housing-benefits freeze and lack of social housing.
“When people think of homelessness, they usually immediately get an image of a rough sleeper in their minds,” says Matt Turtle, one of the museum’s founders. “This is partly thanks to decades of charity fundraising that focuses on the individual image and ‘story’. We want to combat this, as it perpetuates stereotypes and does not serve homeless people.
“Our work puts a lens on the systems of inequality that cause homelessness in the first place.”
He says that exhibitions and programming can provide information, but the public should be able to apply that to their lives. “We think of our exhibitions and events in terms of campaign tactics, rather than public programmes, and that helps MoH be a more effective social-justice vehicle,” adds Turtle. “More often than not, people are moved or angry, because homelessness and housing shortages have been major domestic issues for some time.”
MoH became a charity in October 2015 following an 18-month period of research and development supported by the King’s College London Cultural Institute and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Meanwhile, the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting Homeless History Newcastle, in which archivist Kris McKie, curator David Wright and homelessness charity Crisis Skylight Newcastle are using local archives to uncover unseen stories around homelessness from 1850 onwards. The project, which launched in February, includes a walking tour, conference on local histories in October and exhibition in January 2019.
“We’ve found it refreshing to be working separate from a museum and not being aligned to any programme or agenda,” says McKie.
“Because it’s an unexplored topic, we’re free to explore it in any way we see fit.”
Stories will include that of Thomas Ferens, a 19th-century orphan born in Gateshead, who was well known in the area for sleeping rough next to the Swing Bridge.
St Albans Museum’s exhibition Squatlife, which ran from 14 July-26 August, featured about 70 photos by former local squatter Dave Kotula, and historical depictions of homelessness.
To accompany the exhibition, photographs by current homeless people were displayed in the town centre, while theatre company Cardboard Citizens produced a participatory theatre piece at the city’s Abbey Theatre.
“It’s important to us, as an arts team, to include disenfranchised communities within the creative voice of the district,” says senior arts officer Grae Wall. “We’ll very much encourage people to come down to the Cardboard Citizens piece because that’s a chance for homeless people to speak directly to them.
“People can ask whether things are better than they were in the 1980s or 200 years ago. Some may look at what their political party is doing, some may decide to donate to local charities a bit more. My feeling is that it will encourage people to think.”