Capturing the Somers Town community partner exhibition planning
Lianne, the Communications Lead for Somers Town Community Association, gives an overview of the in-person planning meeting held in April 2026 for the upcoming 2027 summer exhibition.
In-person chats over a cuppa, croissants, and curry are never out of season. On the 20th of April, the Melting Metropolis community engagement team met with their Somers Town community partners at the A Space for Us People’s Museum, to catch up and plan for the upcoming summer and the 2027 exhibition.
Adam Njenga, storyteller in residence from Scene & Heard, kickstarted the day officially though a few creative icebreaker activities - from describing our mood, to a fun drawing exercise using our non-dominant hand, to what we hope to see at the end of the project. For those who were coming to Somers Town for the first time, it was very helpful to put names to faces and hear first-hand how the journey has been.
Diana, director of the museum, walked us through a fun audience profiling exercise, where each of us described the variety of people in Somers Town that could engage with the project. It was interesting to see how varied the answers were but also where they had overlaps.
After a delicious, warm meal of dhal curry catered by community café Spicy Laass, Diana took us on a mini walking tour on Phoenix Road to explain the different artworks on the street and along the way, generating some ideas about what could happen for the exhibition in 2027.
The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to brainstorming ideas about how we envision the exhibition for next year. The sounds of passionate voices, laughter, and markers rapidly scratching papers filled the day as everyone present from the community partners, researchers, and project leads poured their thoughts on what and how the exhibition can all come together.
If this first official in-person meet up is a sign of what is to come, then the road ahead towards the 2027 exhibition is bright and meaningful.
People present:
Sayonee Banerjee – Volunteer at A Space for Us People’s Museum, taking up her postgraduate degree in Museum Studies at UCL
Chloe Berry – Administrative Assistant, Melting Metropolis
Dr. Anna Bocking-Welch – Historian, Melting Metropolis
Lianne De Vera – Communications Lead for STCA, community partner
Dr. Katy Dutton – Project Manager, Melting Metropolis
Diana Foster – Co-Director, A Space for Us People’s Museum, community partner
Esther Leslie - Co-Director, A Space for Us People’s Museum, community partner
Deepika Madhava – Built environment programme lead for STCA, community partner
Adam Njenga – Storyteller in residence for Scene & Heard, community partner
Anna Ravenscroft – Community engagement Project manager, Melting Metropolis