National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000
Research by the charity found that migrants have a great interest in Scottish heritage; they want to learn more about it and be considered as part of it. Surveys showed that nearly half (49%) of the respondents wanted to improve the representation of migrants in Scotland’s museums.
Migrant Voice’s latest project, Putting Ourselves in the Picture, is in its first year of three. It aims to enable migrants to communicate their heritage through cultural storytelling and visitor engagement. Each year, 30 participants are offered training in photography, curating heritage, oral history and public speaking.
Working together to enrich Scotland's history
The participants will create work which captures the heritage of migrants, how they settled in Scotland and how they have added to Scottish history. This will include producing photo portraits and text, and exhibiting these online and in-person. The first exhibition opened at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in September 2023 and is expected to evolve as each cohort of participants create new work and share new stories.
Events and publicity around the exhibitions will engage a broader and more diverse audience, including hosting talks by participants who share their stories of arriving and living in Scotland.
The photographic works created through the project will become part of the Glasgow Museums permanent collection – to be preserved, documented, shared, and made accessible to a wide audience – as a permanent legacy for future generations.
