The Arsenal Foundation has helped to fund the Museum Of Homelessness, a community-driven social justice museum created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness. Internationally award-winning artist, educator and activist David Tovey tell us how the charity has helped him.
“Back in 2013 I took a near-fatal overdose in Highbury Fields. I couldn’t see any other way out. I was in debt, addicted to alcohol and about to lose my flat. Luckily I was resuscitated that day, but that didn’t stop me from becoming homeless. After five months things changed one night in Isledon Gardens. I went into the locked park to take my own life when a man appeared and was like, ‘What are you doing?’
“It threw me. I broke down and told him everything – and not only did he save my life, he gave me my life back. That moment became the inspiration for a lot of my art, which later played a massive role in me coming off the streets. It led me to meet other artists with similar experiences and discover a museum about homelessness was being set up by people affected by it.
“I’ve collaborated with the museum since 2016 and we’ve come a long way in that time. We’ve put on exhibitions and events all over the country; we’ve operated in the halls of Tate Modern and on the streets. We believe art can change lives. It saved my life and that’s why I’ve dedicated myself to changing society through art. We have a homelessness crisis but if you just shout about it people stop listening. If you give them something beautiful, make them cry, they will listen.
“When the pandemic hit we knew it was a massive risk to homeless people so we set up a taskforce. Islington Council lent us a community centre and we stacked our museum shelving with food and emergency supplies, but even after the lockdown we realised isolation was still having a devastating impact on mental health, so with the help of funding from The Arsenal Foundation we set up a StreetMuseum every Thursday on Highbury Corner. This was an outdoor, secure space where people could gather as safely as possible for food, art and company.
“We have worked with thousands of people since the start of the pandemic right up today, and we will continue to work with many more. In lockdown one alone we distributed 8,956 hot meals and care packs, and the winter was very tough. We had a spike in homeless suicides in 2020 and given my own experience, and the fact the StreetMuseum was so near to where I tried to take my own life, it meant so much to me to be able to help people.
“My proudest moment was having my family come to our show at Tate Modern. It was the first time I knew my dad was proud of me, proud that I had gone through so much and picked myself back up. He didn’t think the arts could make a difference, but that day changed his mind. Little did I know that just over a year later I would be carrying his coffin. I can never thank the museum enough for giving me that chance to make my dad proud.”
For more info visit museumofhomelessness.org
“We’ve operated in the halls of Tate Modern and on the streets,” says David, as you can see here and at the top of the page, respectively
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