A MUSEUM "should be an open place where you can come to a higher, different level of existence. . . A good museum is where you become free as you float through time and space . . . and you start seeing things differently" (Jeremy Deller).

The William Morris Gallery is a "good museum", one that has been awarded the title of Museum of the Year for its major renovation and creative reinterpretation of the life and work of Morris. The Grade II* listed building was Morris's family home from 1848 to 1856, and is the only public gallery devoted to him. The transformation of the building reveals many of the original Georgian features for the first time, and enables people to experience the houseas Morris would have done. The renovation also increased and fully refurbished the Gallery's exhibition spaces, providing the chance for previously unseen works to be displayed.

The gallery is now the first UK location to host "English Magic", Jeremy Deller's exhibition for the British Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale. It was a natural choice as the first stop on the show's national tour, as one room in this politically charged exhibition is dedicated to the radical Victorian craftsman with whom Deller has long been fascinated. The iconic image of the show is a mural (We Sit Starving Amidst our Gold) depicting a mythical Morris hurling Roman Abramovich's yacht into the Venetian lagoon.

Morris was a polymath: founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, supporter of the Pre-Raphaelites, founding member of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), a socialist pioneer, designer, craftsman, medievalist, and visionary, whose work still influences these fields today. Explaining his affinity with Morris, Deller has said: "For me William Morris is a fascinating character who wore his heart on his sleeve, mixing politics and art in a way no one has managed to since."

In We Sit Starving Amidst our Gold, Morris destroys a symbol of the excesses of modern-day capitalism. Deller says: "We've been turned into zombies by consumerism, technology, and the new monotony of work. Art and culture are a way of helping us realise we're not that." On this basis, "English Magic" seeks to explore and evoke the fantastic, deceptive, and transformative powers of popular culture and politics, and their ability to weave spells and change perceptions to both good and bad ends.

The exhibition includes people, icons, myths, folklore, and cultural and political history, addressing events from the past, present, and an imagined future. In addition to the inclusivity of its content, Deller has also invited people from all walks of life to be part of creating the art, pointing out that "As individuals you're just that, but together there's this transcendent quality."

Steel-band musicians provide the soundtrack to "English Magic", his playful, thought-provoking film featuring rare birds of prey, children playing on Sacrilege (Deller's life-size inflatable version of Stonehenge), a Range Rover being crushed at a scrap yard, and the Lord Mayor's Show in London. Former soldiers submitted drawings related to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, made while serving time in Her Majesty's prisons.

These aspects of the exhibition are an extension of the Folk Archive that Deller created with Alan Kane, which includes work from prisoners and community groups, gurning and barrel-rolling participants, Notting Hill Carnival troupes, protesters, pop fans, bored teenagers, villagers, and the homeless. The Folk Archive documents the people's culture - popular culture - rather than that of the metropolitan élite. In these ways, Deller's work initiates conversation about the nature of our national identity and psyche.

There is a surprising source for the politically charged, community-centred, transformative, inclusive "secular temple" that is Deller's art. Again, there are similarities to Morris (for whom the vivid religious experiences of his youth had a far-reaching effect on his later life), when Deller states: "I had quite a religious upbringing, in the sense that my parents took me to church; they were quite involved in the Church of England. The Church of England is a social Church: it's very liberal and open. I would call it a mild version of Christianity. I spent the first 12 years of my life around people who were interested in that; so I am sure it rubbed off on me."

"Jeremy Deller: English Magic" is at the William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Forest Road, Walthamstow, London E17, until 30 March, open from Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It then tours to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (12 April to 21 September) and Turner Contemporary, Margate (11 October to 11 January 2015).

www.wmgallery.org.uk