Every February the National Maritime Museum runs Out at Sea, a family festival celebrating LGBTQ+ histories from the maritime world.
The festival is developed in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ community and we are offering a family or families from the LGBTQ+ Family Network the opportunity to work closely with an artist to have an output at the festival.
We are excited to announce that the Families in Residence programme is in the works and will take place across December 2025 and January 2026.
Join Emilia Nurmukhamet of Bold Mellon Collective for a hands-on journey into visual storytelling! Through playful theatre games, collaborative story-building, and practical filmmaking activities, participants will create an original short film from scratch.
The final short film - crafted and edited from the group’s ideas and process - will premiere at the Out at Sea event at the National Maritime Museum on February 7 2026.
This programme is for LGBTQ+ families, and we are now looking for families to take part in our next project. The dates are:
- Saturday 13 December
- Saturday 10 January
- Saturday 24 January
Please note, you're still welcome to join us if you can only make 2/3 sessions, but we encourage you to come to as many as you can.
Timings are 11am - 1.30pm (families are welcome to bring packed lunches).
If this sounds interesting to your family and you'd be able to attend most or all of the sessions, please sign up via this form: LGBTQ+ family in residence sign up form 2025-26 or get in touch via families@rmg.co.uk if you'd like to know more.
2025 LGBTQ+ Family in Residence
In 2025, families worked with textile artist Maria Mautino to create a quilt. The quilt reflected their journeys as a family and were spread across a 'spilhaus' shape, to echo our new Ocean Map. The quilt went on display in the newly reopened West Street showcase in Ocean Court, alongside other co-curated community outcomes.
2024 LGBTQ+ Family in Residence
In 2024 we focused on cartoons and comics, creating a zine together led by artists Lizzie and Khadija.
2023 LGBTQ+ Family in Residence
In 2023, a group of families from the LGBTQ+ Family Network came together to create an animation to be premiered at the Out at Sea family festival. Families worked with animator Lily Ash Sakula to create a short animated film, exploring storytelling, storyboarding, animation and editing over three sessions at the Museum.
Watch the film and learn more about the project here.
2022 LGBTQ+ Family in Residence
In 2022, Aden, Dylan, Julia and Laura became the Museum's first Family in Residence.
During their residency, they worked with artist Jenny Staff to create a family-friendly workshop for Out at Sea, our annual LGBTQ+ family festival.
Find out more about their experience in their blog.
When is the next project?
The programme runs in winter/spring each year. We are now recruiting for the 2026 residency!
To join the LGBTQ+ Families mailing list and hear about our next residency, complete the form at the bottom of this page: LGBTQ+ Family Network | Royal Museums Greenwich
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