Objectified Exhibitions

Museum of Homelessness shares new objects and stories in a powerful new interactive exhibition.

Drawn from Greater Manchester and beyond Objectified will be launching on World Homeless Day. For just five days only at Manchester Art Gallery, the objects will be shared along with their astonishing stories of personal resilience offering a glimpse into a world of homelessness, health and exclusion.

Can an object and its story change perceptions of homelessness? What is the science behind stigma? How is it possible for homelessness to exist in our society? What does it mean to be healthy and what are the main health issues homeless people face today?

Objectified will share what is going on at a time when homelessness has risen greatly and explore this but it will also go further, exploring the science behind how people become marginalised – and what we can do about it.

To make Objectified, Museum of Homelessness has been working with world class social neuroscientist Dr Lasana Harris to explore why some people are treated as less than human, allowing homelessness to continue to rise in 2018. This exhibition will help us all understand why it is possible for this to happen in one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

The testimonies that accompany the objects will be performed by storytellers, directed by Tony McBride, MoH associate (formerly Cardboard Citizens). Our storytellers bring the complex and moving stories behind the objects to life, using the exact words spoken by the people who have donated the object. This method means the project will further contribute to actively involving those with lived experience of homelessness in research in Greater Manchester.

There will also be other opportunities to engage with Objectified in October and November with workshops and events taking place as part of the Manchester Science Festival and the With One Voice International Arts and Homelessness Summit and Festival. In addition, award winning filmmaker Dorothy Allen Pickard has been commissioned to make a documentary on Objectified.

Full programme details and booking information will be available on our website from September 3rd .

Objectified is funded by the Wellcome Trust

Project partners

It has been further supported in part by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR Greater Manchester PSTRC) and Public Programmes team at Manchester University NHS Trust. The views expressed in Objectified are those of the author(s) and donor(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Key partners on the project include Thoughtworks, Manchester Art Gallery, Mustard Tree, H3 – Helping the Homeless into Housing and Groundswell.

More details