South Asian Heritage Exhibition to explore Protests & Identity

A South Asian heritage exhibition that explores stories of protest and identity will launch on July 19, 2024.

Stories That Made Us: Protest & Identity will be housed at the 700-year-old Grade-1 listed heritage building, St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry.

Taking place during South Asian Heritage Month, this is the second time St Mary’s Guildhall is working with Hardish Virk after the successful South Asian textiles exhibition, What We Wore, in 2023.

Hardish is the Curator and Creator of the exhibition.

Stories That Made Us: Protest & Identity is part of St Mary’s Guildhall community engagement programme, which is funded by the Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.

Protest & Identity is inspired by the archive Stories That Made Us, which includes thousands of artefacts documenting the South Asian experience in Coventry and beyond managed by Hardish Virk in partnership with Coventry Artspace.

DESIblitz is the exhibition’s media partner and has loaned the use of the film Britain’s Asian Youth Movements for the exhibition.

Managing Director Indi Deol will also host a talk show event at the exhibition launch on July 19.

For generations, Protest & Identity have been part of the South Asian narrative in the UK.

For many South Asians who migrated to cities like Coventry, making a home and raising children in sometimes a hostile environment required resilience which would sometimes be an unspoken protest.

On other occasions, South Asians would take to the streets campaigning for equal rights and an end to racist attacks.

The likes of the Indian Workers Association would become a political movement for these campaigns.

British-born South Asians would end up forming the British Asian Youth Movements of the late 1970s/early 1980s challenging racism on the streets of Birmingham, Bradford, Sheffield, Southall and other major cities.

During this time, feelings of identity also emerged – where do they belong?

When they are born to parents of South Asian heritage but only know Britain as their place of birth – one that sometimes rejects this new generation of South Asians due to racism and inequalities.

The British-born South Asian identity narrative resonates with many children of migrants who are born in a different country, culture and context from the ones that their parents were born into.

For Hardish, he was born in Coventry to Sikh-Punjabi parents, who were both activists and artists.

The South Asian heritage exhibition addresses these themes whilst exploring different types of protest.

What you wear, the music you listen to, relationships that are developed, groups you belong to and movements you follow can become a part of ones’ identity which can also act as a protest – challenging the status quo, societal rules and stereotypes – carving out an identity based on the individuals’ heritage, experience and relationships.

Photos, leaflets, artworks, books, magazines, objects and artefacts alongside sound and video in the exhibition are designed to ignite a conversation about the role of protest and identity in history as well as today.

To accompany the exhibition, there will be workshops:

• Visual artist Daya Bhatti will host a workshop exploring the themes of protest and identity. Participants will have the opportunity to transform fabrics into powerful canvases for protest art and self-expression. Date: July 27, 2024. Times: 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm.
• Jagdish Patel and Savita Vij will explore 70 years of the Indian Workers Association communicating political resistance through love, solidarity and cultural programming. The workshop will share some of the findings from their ‘1964: Making History’ project. Date: August 31, 2024. Times: TBC.

Daya Bhatti has also been commissioned to create new artwork for the Stories That Made Us: Protest & Identity exhibition.

She has created a collaged denim jacket exploring British South Asian identity and the multifaceted nature of protest.

The design emphasises that protest affects every aspect of life – from music to clothes.

The jacket is a powerful symbol of resistance and unity. It celebrates the strength and resilience of the South Asian community, showing that protest can be woven into the very fabric of our everyday lives.

Hardish said: My parents were artists and activists so as children, my siblings and I knew nothing else growing up in Coventry during the 1970s and 80s.

“I have always been interested in the nuances of activism and how it can manifest itself in ones’ identity.”

“In 2021, in partnership with Coventry Artspace, I was able to find a home for my archive of South Asian artefacts and objects, which have been instrumental in sharing the stories of my family as well as the wider South Asian community through talks, events and exhibitions.

“This year in partnership with St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry I have curated an exhibition which explores protest and identity within the South Asian community and to ignite a conversation about the themes.

“It speaks about my father’s work with the Indian Workers Association as well as my mother’s writings which tackled head-on the gender inequalities within the South Asian community.

“The exhibition also speaks about the influence of popular culture amongst British-born South Asians during the 1980s and 90s – how these informed our fashion, music, friendships and politics.

“‘Free Nelson Mandela’ by the Special AKA or ‘Fight The Power’ by Public Enemy are examples of how popular culture informed young people like me about the social issues of the day and the struggles we want to be part of.

“The exhibition uses print, photos, objects, magazines, collages, zines as well as sound and video to create a dynamic visitor experience inside the 700-year-old St Mary’s Guildhall located in the centre of Coventry.

“The film, Britain’s Asian Youth Movements by DESIblitz adds another dimension to the many stories visitors can find in the Stories That Made Us: Protest & Identity exhibition.

“This exhibition is part of South Asian Heritage Month.”

Stories That Made Us: Protest & Identity will officially launch on July 19 and feature spoken word poetry by Amber Lone.

The exhibition opens to the public on July 20 and will run until September 27.