Museum of Welcome

Public mural and indoor exhibition - part of our programme for Refugee Week 2026.

You can view the indoor exhibition in the opening hours of the Riverside Museum and the public mural anytime.

Museum of Welcome is a community-led creative project developed at Riverside Museum, a partnership between Glasgow Life and the CWIN art group.

Part of Iman Tajik's Navigator Project 2026 (Glasgow Life), the project brings together participants aged 13–65, including families and individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, to explore ideas of identity, memory, belonging, and place through drawing, painting, conversation, and collaborative art-making.

Through visits to the museum, participants responded to its collections, architecture, and stories of transport, movement, and everyday life. Using observation, discussion, and creative experimentation, they developed artworks inspired by objects, spaces, personal memories, and shared experiences.

Working with artists Iman Tajik and Christina Kyriakidou, participants created a series of artworks that culminate in this exhibition and a public mural installation. The project provided opportunities to learn new creative skills, exchange ideas, build connections, and contribute to a collective artwork in the public realm.

Presented as part of Refugee Festival Scotland 2026, Museum of Welcome celebrates the many stories, perspectives, and experiences that shape our communities. The project invites us to consider what it means to feel welcome and how museums can become spaces for creativity, participation, and belonging.

Artwork by Diana Pimiento Castro (Colombia), Isabella Pimiento (Colombia), Samaneh Setayesh (Iran), Melika Shokati (Iran), Mojgan Shahimaeen (Iran), Yuliana Giraldo (Colombia), Olha Starodub (Ukraine), Iryna Starodub (Ukraine), Illia Peiem (Ukraine), Liudmyla Peiem (Ukraine), Kattia Manrique (Peru), Tahereh Samori (Iran), Muhammad Hamami (Syria), Oksana Borysova (Ukraine), Lira Kim, Jasmine Seidawi, Fateme Ghaderi, Linh Nguyen, Luz Dary Rodríguez (Colombia), Muna Enad (Jordan), Maryam Barzegar Lamei (Iran), Sally Wong, Mahdi Mohammadi (Afghanistan)

Museum of Welcome was developed in partnership with Central and West Integration Network (CWIN) and the Riverside Museum.

Special thanks to the project's funders and supporters: Central and West Integration Network (CWIN), the Riverside Museum Team, Glasgow Life Learning and Access Team, the Youth and Community Development Team at Glasgow Life, and Refugee Festival Scotland 2026, for their support in making this project possible.

Thank you The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland - Awards for All