Museum of Colour launch, 2019, Pitt Rivers Museum
About Museum of Colour
Museum of Colour (MoC) is building a groundbreaking digital museum to explore, celebrate and build recognition of the contribution made by people of colour to the nation’s culture, specifically in film, television and the arts, 1766 – 2016.
Museum of Colour develops and builds digital exhibitions to look at specific creative genres, with content including portraits, filmed interviews, podcasts, and a photographic collection of donated items. We create informative and shareable content online, complemented by live launches, special events, and workshops with audiences and participants. We also work with heritage organisations and contemporary artists to shape a people-centred response to history.
MoC CIC is a heritage and creativity social enterprise, and was founded by Samenua Sesher.
Artistic responses to our
shared history
Since its launch in 2019, Museum of Colour has shaped a pioneering programme of work. Our first exhibition, People of Letters, launched at the Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxfordshire County Library, focused on the world of publishing and those who have supported writers of colour. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we delivered a response exhibition, Respect Due, celebrating elders of colour. In 2022, we launched our poetry exhibition, My Words, co-curated with Words of Colour and Renaissance One, and in partnership with Manchester Poetry Library, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, and British Library. These Things Matter was our first physical exhibition, created in collaboration with Bodleian Libraries and Fusion Arts. Our most recent exhibition is A Very British Rhythm, an exhibition focusing on dancers and choreographers.
As a digital museum, Museum of Colour is national and works with artists and organisations across the UK. MoC is registered in Folkestone, Kent, is part of the Folkestone Creative Quarter, and is incubated at People’s Palace Projects (PPP) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). MoC also has a memorandum of understanding with Oxford Gardens Libraries and Museums (GLAM). Of the four exhibitions currently held in the museum, three have been created or launched in Oxford. Over the past five years, the organisation has built strong links with the local community in Oxford, which has historic communities of colour.
Read more about the exhibitions and galleries or visit the museum here.
Museum of Colour is currently incubated by People’s Palace Projects.
People’s Palace Projects is an arts research centre bringing together artists, activists, academics and audiences to challenge social and climate injustices through the power of the arts. Directed by Paul Heritage, People’s Palace Projects is a subsidiary of Queen Mary University of London.