West Midlands & London | 2026 – 2027

Overview

Culture& presents The Unhomely, a new public programme and exhibition series taking place in Stoke-on-Trent and London. Working with the Brampton Museum and Museum of the Home, these dual locations will create a conversation across cities, inviting audiences to reflect on the tensions of belonging and the persistence of memory, longing, and identity. Rooted in the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny, where the familiar suddenly feels strange, The Unhomely explores the diasporic experience of migration, cultural displacement, and unbelonging. Through stories, objects, and creative commissions, the programme asks: what does it mean to feel at home, and what happens when home becomes unhomely?

Each element of the programme will be shaped by lived experiences of people from Staffordshire and beyond: from domestic objects that carry memories across time and geography, to collective storytelling that reframe the archives of migration and belonging. Stay tuned for updates, on our social media channels, website and newsletter, as we announce artists, partners, and venues in the next few months.

Now Open

London | In Perpetuum – Culture& X Museum of the Home

A site-responsive soundscape from artist Güler Ates, in collaboration with Leyla Huysal and Yusuf Huysal. In Perpetuum is a four‑channel sound piece with no beginning or end. It invites visitors to slow down and inhabit the space, guided by the themes of ambiguity, the unknown, and belonging, amidst the Museum’s period rooms. Each time someone listens, the experience is different. As distinct elements loop across four channels at varying durations, the sound piece creates moments that have never sounded quite the same and never will again.

Tuesday 17 March 2026 – Sunday 30 August 2026

Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA

Student Opportunity | Open Call: Responses to Documentary Screening

Culture& invites students who attended The Unhomely documentary screening on Wednesday 11 March 2026 at the University of Staffordshire Film Theatre to submit a visual interpretation and/or written review responding to the two films being screened. This call is open to students across Creative Industries disciplines at University of Staffordshire and Keele University. Two submissions will be selected. Each selected student will receive a £250 bursary. How to Apply: Culture& Unhomely screening review call out

Coming Soon

In Conversation Event at Museum of the Home

22 April 2026 18:30-20:00

Conversation between artists Güler Ates, Leyla Huysal and Yusuf Huysal with Dr Errol Francis, artistic director and CEO of Culture&, moderated by a Museum of the Home. Free event, more details TBA

Event Archive

The Unhomely: Double-bill Screening & Panel Event

Photo credit: Juliet Gyan and David Adebiyi

The event involved the screening of You Hide Me (Nii Kwate Owoo, 1970, 17min) & Dahomey (Mati Diop, 2024, 68min), a panel discussion with Dr Errol Francis, Gabriella Gay and Jessica Longmore, and Q&A.

Culture& would like to thank everyone that joined us on 11 March at the Double-bill film screening at University of Staffordshire that kicked off our Unhomely programme that explores diaspora, migration and belonging. Special thanks to Jessica Longmore and Gabriella Gay from Kwanzaa Collective for making this event possible. Students, alumni and staff of University of Staffordshire and Keele University watched ‘You Hide Me’ by Nii Kwate Owoo, 1970, and ‘Dahomey’ by Mati Diop, 2024 – two documentaries on the appropriation and repatriation of African art and artefacts.
Student Response from the Event

The panel discussion after the screening comprised of Dr Errol Francis, Culture&’s Artistic Director Gabriella Gay , Director of Kwanzaa Collective UK and Jessica Longmore, Senior Lecturer Digital, Tech, Innovation & Business at University of Staffordshire. The discussion was then opened up to the audiences, who shared their unique insights on their experiences of feeling at home or not at home, as well as their relationship to Staffordshire. A short video recap of the discussion will be shared soon. We would like to invite all students to submit a creative response or written review of the documentaries, link in bio. Photographer and Graphic Designer of ‘The Unhomely’ logo: Juliet Gyan. Roving mic/facilitator: David Adebiyi