South Asian Heritage Month: The UK's first gallery celebrating the South Asian community

The UK's first permanent gallery on the South Asian community is helping people from different backgrounds learn about that part of the world.

Manchester Museum's South Asia Gallery opened in February 2023 with work from 30 different co-curators and the British Museum.

Credit: ITV Granada Reports

The exhibition highlights the experiences and contributions of British South Asians, with work showcasing migration, climate and music.

Many of the curators have donated items from their own family's history, such as Atiha Chaudry who's family passports showed their journey from India through East Africa to Manchester.

"We can now really show our stories, get involved in our heritage, our histories, explore our own families, and put that to be shared with everybody," she said.

For Ms Chaudry and all the other curators, their heritage is a key part of their desire to be involved with the gallery.

She said: "It's really important to me..to know and understand where I'm from, how my ancestors lived, what their journey was and how I ended up in Manchester!"

Some of the items include passports showcasing some family's migration journies. Credit: ITV Granada Reports

But as well as stories of movement, Samihah Mudabbir's pieces on climate change, aim to show the issue through the lens of South Asia.

In particular, in Bangladesh where people have gardens floating on top of the flooding that takes place for most of the year.

"When you're in school, taking trips to the museum and you're looking at all the history I just never thought we'd see our history" she said.

Yusuf Tai was involved in the history of South Asia with a section on the Mughal Dynasty, highlighting Muslim women.

"I just want people who are younger versions of my self, to feel comfortable in their identities," said Mr Tai.

In one of the cabinets, Aziz Ibrahim's item was his album called 'Lahore to Longsight'.

The album was written decades ago with song's like 'Mummy's Boy' and 'Korma Coma', but never released because of his cultural background.

Mr Ibrahim hopes to release his album for his sixtieth birthday next year.

"It's a guitar, band driven album. But I don't think I'd ever seen or heard anything like it at the time," he said.

"It's just a reflection of British Asians that we branched out, you can do anything you want to do if you stand up and say I want to try this."

Music and culture feature heavily across the gallery, with many curators bringing in their own vinyls and CDs.

For all of these curators, the gallery is something they wish they had when they were younger.

The lead curator, Nusrat Ahmed, says for her the thing that stands out most is having a space for people that aren't usually given one.

"This space is so important because it's where I could have connected to my heritage when I was growing up, I think it's really important for people who come from that background to have a sense of belonging and ownership in these spaces," she said.

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