Weaving Stories: From Community Hands and Hearts
Co-curated with students from Durham Sixth Form Centre 

Museums are more than collections of objects. They are living spaces shaped by the people around them. Weaving Stories: From Community Hands and Hearts (2025) celebrated the voices of the diverse communities who were the very fabric of the museum. We brought together artistic responses from ten key groups who regularly interacted with the museum, spanning all ages, backgrounds, and experiences. Each group explored a different collection in the Oriental Museum, using creativity to express their own stories. In exhibiting their artwork, each grouping of works was themed under a word that encapsulates the shared experience that evolves between visitor and museum.  

 
From Little Dragons' curious adventure across the Silk Roads gallery, to the works of Durham University Poetry Society inspired by Sijo poetry, each piece revealed new ways of seeing and understanding the past. Visitors encountered collage, painting, printing, textiles, digital painting, and interactive artworks, finishing by being invited to leave a response on an interactive weaving wall. Above all, this exhibition celebrated people and ideas; it acted as an invitation to listen, engage, and contribute. Through creativity and connection, we wove our stories together, ensuring that museums remained spaces for everyone. 

The Oriental Museum was wonderful to work with and it was great to be able to collaborate with community groups on an exhibition about the local community. Emily was so unbelievably helpful and communicated so much with us, making the organisation and cooperation incredibly smooth and I cannot be more thankful for a more wonderful opportunity. Emily has done a wonderful job coordinating the exhibition and the different range of people there was encouraging to see as everyone could enjoy the exhibition. Emily really helped us with suggesting and providing areas of inspiration and material to work with in relation to the theme of our mural - Japan. 

• Anabel, Student at Durham Sixth Form Centre

I had the amazing opportunity to work with Emily, on behalf of the Oriental Museum, helping to plan, curate and install pieces for the current exhibition, Weaving Stories: from Community Hands and Hearts. This opportunity allowed me to develop my skills in curation, and also provided valuable insight into the preparation of an exhibition - making sure the text and all information was accessible to everyone - and taking into account different age groups. Emily made the experience extremely fun and comfortable, and working in the Oriental Museum meant that I could learn more about various cultures.

• Ameila, Student at Durham Sixth Form Centre

Feedback was collected in various ways, including on a blackboard which showed comments written in Korean, Turkish, Chinese, English and more. As well as in the interactive weaving wall, gathering responses from visitors through asking visitors to add fabric that corresponded to a statement to the wall.