Hannah Arendt’s essay – We Refugees – was published in 1943, after she and her family escaped to New York following the Nazi occupation of France. Arendt details the personal trauma of exile and forced migration and reads the refugee as a product of the limitations of the nation state. However, the exile, the émigré, the refugee, has a history much older than any particular mode of political organisation.

Originally available during a special Saturday opening, we've extended the run of our Museum trail, We Refugees.

Explore the hidden histories of the Polar Museum in this new label display. From the female figures in polar history to the origins of Inuit art; follow the stories around the museum exhibits and discover something new. 

This display is part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Power and Memory programme.

Available to view during museum opening hours 10am – 4pm, Tues-Sat.  

Delve into the collections at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science and learn about the difficult histories inherent in the advancement of scientific knowledge. Age recommendation 10 or older.

Join us at the Museum for a special performance-based Taruwa evening.

By bringing together collections from across the University of Cambridge’s museums, libraries and colleges with loans from around the world, Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance asks new questions about Cambridge’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and looks at how objects and artworks have influenced history and perspectives.

Discover complex, intriguing and challenging stories about power within our collections. 

Join us for The Power Walk series - an opportunity to share and exchange stories and ideas linked to the University of Cambridge Museum's investigation of the legacies of empire and enslavement, power and memory with our communities and audiences.

Discover complex, intriguing and challenging stories about power within our collections. 

Join us for The Power Walk series - an opportunity to share and exchange stories and ideas linked to the University of Cambridge Museum's investigation of the legacies of empire and enslavement, power and memory with our communities and audiences.

Discover complex, intriguing and challenging stories about power within our collections. 

Join us for The Power Walk series - an opportunity to share and exchange stories and ideas linked to the University of Cambridge Museum's investigation of the legacies of empire and enslavement, power and memory with our communities and audiences.

What is your experience of speaking out? What does it feel like to be heard or unheard? What does it feel like to be hidden or silenced? Spend a creative afternoon at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science getting hands-on, and exploring your experiences of power. 

Zine making is an exciting and accessible tool that can be used to record personal experiences giving agency to the maker and can represent acts of resistance against power. Zines have been used to protest, resist and encourage collective activism.

History is written by the conquerors – and the Romans conquered other peoples from Africa to the middle East to ancient Britain. But what was it like to live on the fringes of the empire, under Roman rule? For one evening, grab a glass of wine and try to find your way through the porticoes of power – can you subvert your imperial overlords? Unravel your story in our choose-your-own adventure.

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