Islington Museum opened its doors for a consultation on its upcoming redesign on Saturday 19 March to ask locals their opinions.
Visitors have requested renovations to the entrance to make it both more accessible and more enticing.
The museum will close in the summer, as it has not changed since moving to its St John Street location in 2008 from the Town Hall. It will reopen in spring 2023 with a fresh look.
On Saturday, the museum hosted activities and tours for visitors to engage with the redesigning decisions. One room has been dedicated to feedback with colourful illustrations imagining the museum’s new appearance. Visitors are encouraged to add post-it notes with their thoughts onto mood boards on the walls.
Criticism of the museum mentioned “the dreary, concrete entrance and poor signage outside”. The museum is situated below Finsbury Library, where there are only a few street-level signs. One recurring adjective from the consultation was “dated”.
Parents and teachers hoped the redesign will be interactive and accessible for young visitors. The current children’s corner was popular and sticky notes from Saturday suggested historically-themed dressing up and visual displays, rather than more long information boards.
In addition, the consultation asked visitors how the content of the exhibition should reflect Islington’s past and they suggested the use of timelines or arrows to direct visitors through a chronological history of the area.
The museum is keen to reflect all Islington residents in the redesign, as stated in the consultation report online: “Islington is a diverse borough. The future museum will better reflect and celebrate this. More flexible display methods will allow us to accommodate new collections, community projects and resident responses, while co-production throughout the redevelopment will allow us to embed community voices into the redisplay.”
The consultation is open online and at the museum until 5 April.
