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Crafting new futures: celebrating the creativity and ingenuity of refugees

Celebrating works of art, and other imaginative objects, made by refugees and displaced people.

Exhibition highlights

Created from limited resources, our exhibition objects show exceptional skill, imagination and craftsmanship. Here are just a few highlights.

Toy kangaroo, c.1945

Toy kangaroo made in a Displaced Persons camp by a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Making clothes, 1935 - 1945

A Yugolsav woman in a refugee camp making clothes using a sewing machine.

Red Cross apron, 1980s

An apron, made for Red Cross workers by a displaced person in Ethiopia, from an empty Red Cross food sack.

Shoulder bag made from Red Cross sacks

This shoulder bag was made from sacks used in Red Cross seed distributions in Angola in 1995. Told by British Red Cross curator Mehzebin Adam.

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Changi quilt

The Changi quilt might look like an innocent craft project - but its patchwork squares tell a different story.

Our historical collections

Objects and records from 1870 to our present day contribution to society.