Free ‘Connecting Collections’ opens in Hitchin on 18 August: what residents need to know

A tiny football pin sits among the objects selected for Connecting Collections, but its significance reaches far beyond the museum case. One participant linked it to her journey to Britain after the expulsion of British Asian people from Uganda in 1972.

The community-curated exhibition opens at 10.30am on Tuesday, 18 August, at North Hertfordshire Museum, Brand Street, Hitchin SG5 1JE. Admission is free, and the exhibition runs until Sunday, 1 November. It is open to the general public and will be particularly relevant to visitors interested in local heritage, global history and the origins of museum collections.

According to North Herts Council, the exhibition is the first public outcome of a project that invited residents to research objects, examine how they entered the collection and bring underrepresented histories into view.

A football pin carries a migration story

The football pin demonstrates how an apparently modest object can hold a much larger personal history. It was chosen by a participant whose connection to the item led back to the forced departure of British Asian communities from Uganda in 1972 and her subsequent journey to the UK.

Other exhibits reflect research and insights developed by residents during collaborative workshops. The resulting display places those personal connections alongside questions about where objects came from, who collected them and whose experiences have previously received less attention.

Residents examined how collections were formed

The Connecting Collections project ran from November 2025 to March 2026. Participants from global majority backgrounds worked together to investigate material held by the museum.

In the project, “global majority” referred to people identifying as Black, African, Arab, Asian, Brown or mixed-heritage, including people indigenous to the global south and those from communities often described as ethnic minorities.

Their work focused on three areas: examining historic collections from around the world, investigating whether some objects may have been acquired through unfair or unethical means, and uncovering histories connected to underrepresented communities.

Cllr Tamsin Thomas, North Herts Council’s Executive Member for Enterprise, said residents had worked with the museum to explore the collection, confront questions about how objects were acquired and uncover stories connecting different communities.

Grant funding supported the community research

The project received grant funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, which is run by the Museums Association and supports collection-development work intended to have a lasting social impact.

Since the fund was launched in 2011, it has awarded 178 grants worth more than £12.9 million. In Hitchin, that support enabled residents to take part in the research process rather than appearing only as subjects within a finished museum display.

Opening hours, admission and visitor details

North Hertfordshire Museum is open from 10.30am to 4.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Sunday opening hours are 11am to 3pm, including the exhibition’s final day on 1 November.

Admission to both the museum and Connecting Collections is free. The council notice does not state whether advance booking is required and provides no specific transport or accessibility information.

The museum café serves drinks, sweet and savoury snacks, and light meals. Visitors seeking further details before travelling can contact North Hertfordshire Museum on 01462 474554.

Source: North Herts Council News