Adam R. Hemmings

Adam R. HemmingsPreserving the Past ~ Shaping the Present ~ Imagining the Future

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Archaeology & Research
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- Home
- About Me
- Explore With Me
  Archaeology & Research
  Production & Curation
  Community Building & Activism
- Work With Me

Adam R. HemmingsPreserving the Past ~ Shaping the Present ~ Imagining the Future

Home
About Me
Explore With Me
Archaeology & Research
Production & Curation
Community Building & Activism
Work With Me
- Home
- About Me
- Explore With Me
  Archaeology & Research
  Production & Curation
  Community Building & Activism
- Work With Me

How To Survive The Apocalypse - Museum of Homelessness, London (2024–2025)

Operations & Production Manager Museum of Homelessness is a ground-breaking, community-driven social justice museum led by individuals with direct experience of homelessness, founded in 2014 by Jess and Matt Turtle. After a decade without a permanent home, the museum opened its first fixed site at Manor House Lodge, Finsbury Park, in May 2024, an opening covered by the BBC, The Economist, The Guardian, and on the cover of The Big Issue. “How To Survive The Apocalypse” was the inaugural exhibition, combining live verbatim object storytelling, immersive projection, promenade performance, and audience discussion to explore the resilience, ingenuity, and creativity of people experiencing homelessness. We inverted conventional narratives and showed that people experiencing homelessness are bearers of practical wisdom in our precarious world. As Operations & Production Manager, I played a central role in building the exhibition and the museum’s operations from inception to delivery and beyond across its launch year, overseeing production, marketing, stakeholder engagement, and day-to-day processes. Named one of the best exhibitions in London by The Guardian and London on the Inside.

Families Living in Temporary Accommodation - House of Commons, London (2024)

Researcher & Installer for Anthony Luvera Anthony Luvera is an Australian socially-engaged artist, writer, and educator based in London. Since 2022, he was embedded within the team of Focused Care practitioners for homeless families at Shared Health Foundation, working with families in temporary accommodation across Greater Manchester to document their experiences through photography and audio recordings. Commissioned by the Households in Temporary Accommodation APPG and presented at the House of Commons in April 2024, this exhibition offered portraits and recorded conversations with families navigating temporary accommodation (109,000 households in England, including 142,490 children), alongside infographics, revealing the complexity, resilience, and quiet willpower of people in a hidden disaster. I contributed research assistance and supported the physical installation; siting custom-built display stands and frames for greatest impact on an audience of politicians and policymakers.

Conditions of Living - Four Corners, Bethnal Green, London (2022–25)

Producer & Researcher for Anthony Luvera Four Corners is a gallery dedicated to independent photography and film-making in Bethnal Green, London, founded in 1973. "Conditions of Living" examined the rise of economic segregation in recent housing developments (a phenomenon known as “poor doors”) through photography and graphic information design created in collaboration with a community forum of residents from eight housing developments across Tower Hamlets. The exhibition drew on extensive research into the communal, political, and economic evolution of market-driven affordable housing, exploring how segregation expands outward from separate entrances to access to facilities, healthcare, culture, and community space. Supported by Arts Council England, the project included a Community Forum, series of talks, a research-rich publication, and public artwork. As producer and researcher, I worked with Anthony across the full arc of the project, from co-organising the Community Forum and coordinating participant outreach, to accompanying him on shoots and supervising delivery through to exhibition opening, as well as contributing to evaluation reporting afterwards.

Passing Gloves - Rich Mix, London (2022)

Producer-Curator with Orion Isaacs - Supported by Arts Council England “Passing Gloves” was an immersive exhibition conceived by artist Orion Isaacs, celebrating the lost and forgotten stories of Jewish boxers in the UK. Isaacs’ original photo-series and short film (produced in collaboration with Sweatmother) formed a visual dialogue with a vanished Jewish boxing archive collected for the exhibition, challenging audiences with questions of Jewish masculinity, spiritual and bodily stamina, and boxing’s extended history as a vehicle for empowering the marginalised. A soundscape by Giora, theatre lighting methods, and suspended objects combined to create an experience that was both intimate and ambitious. As co-curator and producer, I shaped the exhibition’s construction, supervised its production from development through to launch at Rich Mix, and conducted oral history fieldwork across London and Manchester, working with Jewish families connected to the world of boxing, gathering the personal pasts and family archives that form the exhibition’s documentary core, and co-leading curatorial engagement work with audiences in the form of discussion sessions.

Taking Place - The Gallery at Foyles, London (2020)

Producer for Anthony Luvera - Supported by FutureCity The Gallery at Foyles is a cultural space on the fifth floor of Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road, curated and managed by cultural placemaking agency FutureCity. "Taking Place" brought together two bodies of work by Anthony Luvera, Assembly (2013-2014) and Frequently Asked Questions (2014-2020), to examine the scale and complexity of the homelessness crisis in Britain, uniting collaborative portraiture with a striking installation presenting responses from 110 local authorities on services available to people experiencing homelessness, 41 of whom did not answer at all. Produced in association with Museum of Homelessness and supported by Coventry University, the exhibition ran from January to February 2020, accompanied by a full day of talks on homelessness and housing justice. As producer, I contributed across many dimensions of the project: communicating with local authorities, amassing data, supporting the development of the accompanying publication, and supervising delivery of the exhibition and its public programme.

Frequently Asked Questions - People's Republic of Stokes Croft, Bristol (2019)

Producer for Anthony Luvera The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft is an organization and cultural space in Bristol, recognised for its activism around community identity, street art, and resistance to gentrification. “Frequently Asked Questions” is a research-driven artwork made in collaboration with Gerald Mclaverty (a participant in Luvera’s earlier “Assembly”) concentrating on the impact of homelessness at a national level. At its heart are questions arising from Gerald’s own experience: where can I find shelter? Where can I eat? Where can I sleep? Presenting replies from 110 local authorities across the UK (41 of whom did not reply at all) the work demonstrates the true scale of the crisis through one individual’s navigation of administrative and depersonalising systems of authority. Featuring photography, graphic information design, educational resources, a symposium, publication, and public artwork, the project gave voice to those most affected by institutional indifference. As producer, I contributed across both investigative and logistical dimensions, supporting development and delivery of the exhibition and its public programme.

Objectified - Manchester Art Gallery (2018)

Cultural Producer for Museum of Homelessness - Supported by the Wellcome Trust Manchester Art Gallery is one of the UK’s leading public art museums, housing a significant collection in the heart of the city. Launched on World Homeless Day, 10th October 2018, “Objectified” was an interactive exhibition exploring the hidden causes of homelessness and the neuroscience behind dehumanisation, developed in collaboration with world-class social neuroscientist Dr. Lasana Harris. Twenty objects donated by people experiencing or who had experienced homelessness were presented through verbatim object storytelling, immersive multisensory surroundings, and projected film, each revealing a fragment of a life lived and challenging stereotypes about what homelessness means. As cultural producer, I contributed across the full production process, including creating the multisensory and immersive atmosphere and bringing together the exhibition’s diverse elements into a coherent whole. Supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, the project extended into conferences and events through mid-2019.

Man on Bench Fairytale - Mayfield Depot, Manchester (2018)

Producer for Museum of Homelessness - Supported by Unlimited Mayfield Depot is an iconic space in the heart of Manchester, a venue that has become one of the city's most significant sites for large-scale cultural events. “Man On Bench Fairytale” was a site-specific immersive opera by artist David Tovey, rooted in his own experience of homelessness and the stranger who saved his life on a park bench. Participants transformed discarded clothing into couture, which volunteer models then wore in a promenade performance conveying the physical and psychological traces of Tovey’s journey through homelessness and recovery. Incorporating operatic elements, high fashion, innovative immersive design, verse, and music, the work addressed universal themes of life, death, despair, and revitalisation. Presented as part of Manchester's first International Arts and Homelessness Summit and Festival, the production was commissioned by Unlimited. As producer, I oversaw all core production elements, including script supervision, action vehicles, and the delivery of full access provision (BSL interpretation, captioning, and audio description) ensuring the work reached the widest possible audience.

Reframing the Myth - The Guardian, Kings Place, London (2016)

Researcher & Curatorial Assistant for Graeae Theatre Company “Reframing the Myth” was a major exhibition celebrating 35 years of Graeae Theatre Company, presented at The Guardian’s exhibition space in Kings Cross. Produced in collaboration with the Central Illustration Agency, the exhibition paired 40 of CIA’s leading illustrators (including Sir Peter Blake) with 40 of Graeae’s performers, creating original works inspired by the experiences of D/deaf and Disabled performers, directors, and writers. The exhibition highlighted both the artistic achievements of Graeae’s community and the continuing challenges facing D/deaf and Disabled people under changes to the benefits system. Working as part of the Graeae team, I contributed research and curatorial support across the display, including installation and lighting, as well as producing accessible interpretation (writing captions, and recording and editing audio tour segments) to ensure the work reached the widest possible audience.

Adam R. Hemmings

Adam R. Hemmings

Adam R. Hemmings

Productions - Adam's Site

How To Survive The Apocalypse - Museum of Homelessness, London (2024–2025)

Families Living in Temporary Accommodation - House of Commons, London (2024)

Conditions of Living - Four Corners, Bethnal Green, London (2022–25)

Passing Gloves - Rich Mix, London (2022)

Taking Place - The Gallery at Foyles, London (2020)

Frequently Asked Questions - People's Republic of Stokes Croft, Bristol (2019)

Objectified - Manchester Art Gallery (2018)

Man on Bench Fairytale - Mayfield Depot, Manchester (2018)

Reframing the Myth - The Guardian, Kings Place, London (2016)

Adam R. Hemmings
is an archaeologist, producer-curator, and community builder

Adam R. Hemmings

Adam R. Hemmings

Adam R. Hemmings

Productions - Adam's Site

How To Survive The Apocalypse - Museum of Homelessness, London (2024–2025)

Families Living in Temporary Accommodation - House of Commons, London (2024)

Conditions of Living - Four Corners, Bethnal Green, London (2022–25)

Passing Gloves - Rich Mix, London (2022)

Taking Place - The Gallery at Foyles, London (2020)

Frequently Asked Questions - People's Republic of Stokes Croft, Bristol (2019)

Objectified - Manchester Art Gallery (2018)

Man on Bench Fairytale - Mayfield Depot, Manchester (2018)

Reframing the Myth - The Guardian, Kings Place, London (2016)

Adam R. Hemmings is an archaeologist, producer-curator, and community builder

Adam R. Hemmings
is an archaeologist, producer-curator, and community builder