Open today, 10am - 5pm. Free entry.

A bright, airy reception space with a gently curved white desk at centre right, behind which a staff member speaks to a visitor. To the left, a large semi-circular bank of green-framed windows looks out onto leafy gardens. The person on a bench on the left is chatting with a person standing right to the bench.

ESEA Communities

Creating relationships with our local East and Southeast Asian communities and making work with a real legacy.

East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) is a term used in the UK for people who identify with the cultures and ethnicities of East and Southeast Asia.

At the heart of our ESEA programme is co-creation and collaboration with diaspora groups, including artists, collectives and creatives.

We practice care and commitment to explore new methods of working that create relationships with our local East and Southeast Asian communities.

The urgent need to represent and preserve our local Vietnamese diaspora’s stories and memories led to the co-development of the Terraced Home in 2024 as part of our new Rooms Through Time. It expands on themes including nourishment, gardening, textiles, DIY, resourcefulness, and music. 

The objects and oral histories from Vietnamese donors enrich our collections and create a living archive and resource for future ESEA and Vietnamese generations to activate and engage.

We have collaborated with over 50 ESEA groups – advocacy, social justice, services, creative, and film clubs – over the last three years. We have worked with End Violence & Racism ESEA, ESEA Sisters, ESEA Green Lions and more to develop new and exciting projects.

In 2022, our Green Lunar New Year was fully programmed by climate awareness group Green Lions, celebrating the culturally significant day.

“The ESEA Programme and its community producers are actively helping us to create a less fractured Vietnamese & ESEA diaspora community.”

External Shaping Group member, 2024

Logo for the Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA)

Supporting our ESEA programme

Since 2022, the ESEA Programme has been established and made possible through the generous support by Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association.

We are now focused on deepening our relationships and expanding our work which is possible through funding – please get in touch with ESEA community producer Lara Baclig (lbaclig@museumofthehome.org.uk) at for any potential collaborations/knowledge sharing around this.

Current projects

A bright, airy reception space with a gently curved white desk at centre right, behind which a staff member speaks to a visitor. To the left, a large semi-circular bank of green-framed windows looks out onto leafy gardens. The person on a bench on the left is chatting with a person standing right to the bench.

Uncovering Vietnamese Archives Artist Residency: Library of Ancestral Knowledge

A new opportunity for two Vietnamese or ESEA diaspora artists based in London, with expertise engaging community groups through creative methods,…

Find out more
Uncovering Vietnamese Archives Artist Residency: Library of Ancestral Knowledge

Past projects

A space showing living room with floral throw over a sofa and connecting kitchen, featuring wood paneling, sewing machine, and wall-mounted TV.

A Terraced House in 2024

It is Sunday afternoon and the Nguyễn family is spending quality time together, having lunch and singing karaoke.

Find out more
A Terraced House in 2024
Collage image of stitching techniques and collaged materials

Seat at the Table with ESEA unseen and Swilipino

ESEA unseen will share stories of cross-cultural identity and migration in relation to textiles in the domestic space, and invite audiences to…

Find out more
Seat at the Table with ESEA unseen and Swilipino
A white stool with four splayed legs stands alone on a pale concrete floor against a white wall.

No Place Like Home (A Vietnamese Exhibition) Part II

No Place Like Home is a free contemporary art exhibition co-curated and led by KV Duong and Hoa Dung Clerget.

Find out more
No Place Like Home (A Vietnamese Exhibition) Part II

Home Grown

Join us for a community film and pop-up exhibition exploring the roots of Vietnamese home life.

Find out more
Home Grown

Uncovering Vietnamese Archives with Dora Lam

Embark on a journey activating Vietnamese Archives from a contemporary lens in five workshops with our resident artist Dora Lam.

Find out more
Uncovering Vietnamese Archives with Dora Lam

Green Lunar New Year

A sustainable twist on traditional Lunar New Year celebrations, in partnership with ESEA community group Green Lions.

Find out more
Green Lunar New Year
sonic pho graphic illustrating a bowl of noodles splashing with a headphone wire coming out from the bowl

Sonic Phở

Museum of the Home and New Earth Theatre present Sonic Phở, the audio dining experience.

Listen on Bloomberg Connects
Sonic Phở
Image and graphic of women on a beach talking, text includes the words 'ESEA Sisters Healing Circle'

ESEA Sisters Healing Circle: Finding Home in Yourself

Ending ESEA Heritage Month in October 2022, this healing workshop was held for ESEA communities of women, trans, non-binary and genderqueer folk.

ESEA Sisters Healing Circle: Finding Home in Yourself
People's silhouettes watching a film screening projected

The Nodey Process: Film Screening x Afterparty

In August 2022 we hosted the UK's first screening of The Nodey Process, a documentary tracing the evolution of the French-Vietnamese music producer.

The Nodey Process: Film Screening x Afterparty

“You did it [collecting] with so much attention to detail and care, so much fluidity when we all needed you, by putting the work in to learn bits of our language, our culture and our objects of the home. You came to us. And uplifted us.”

Donor, 2 August 2024

A blurred figure walks across a room in front of weathered looking panels and windows showing a model of a city.

Keep in touch

Sign up to our monthly e-newsletter for the latest news, events and exhibitions.

Subscribe now