"It's about building bridges between communities"
A new exhibition celebrating Coventry’s South Asian communities will open later in 2025 after receiving funding.
Stories That Made Us: Roots, Resilience, Representation will launch at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum on November 14.
Culture Coventry Trust announced it had secured a £131,350 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the project.
Marguerite Nugent, the trust’s cultural director, said they could bring stories from the city’s South Asian communities to life in a way that acknowledged the “deep cultural impact” they had made.
She added: “It’s about building bridges between communities and we hope this will lead to a deeper understanding of our shared history.
According to the 2021 census, about 18.5% of Coventry’s population identified as Asian or Asian British.
But the gallery said these communities were “often underrepresented” in public collections or exhibitions.
The exhibition will explore the lived experiences of a South Asian family in the city from 1968 to 2010. It will draw on Coventry Archives’ Virk Collection and Hardish Virk‘s Stories That Made Us Collection.
Photographs, books, magazines, vinyl records and other memorabilia will be displayed.
Hardish Virk, exhibition co-curator, said it aimed to tell stories of both migrant and British South Asian communities, through the lived experience of one family.
He said: “This exhibition doesn’t claim to tell every story, instead it will tackle themes of migration, activism and identity which will resonate with both South Asian communities as well as wider society.
“Part of the legacy is to celebrate and document the positive contribution South Asian communities have and continue to make to every aspect of British society.”
Organisers hope the exhibition will create a lasting impact by shedding light on the historical and cultural journey of Coventry’s South Asian residents.
The project aims to foster greater representation within the city’s heritage institutions while encouraging wider engagement with these stories.
The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum has previously hosted exhibitions highlighting Coventry’s diverse communities.
This latest project is part of a broader effort to acknowledge the city’s multicultural history.
Culture Coventry Trust said the funding would also support workshops, community engagement activities and educational resources linked to the exhibition.
It aims to ensure these stories are preserved and shared with future generations.
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