Manchester Museum to have a permanent South Asia gallery

Manchester Museum will be the first-ever museum to have a permanent South Asia gallery in the UK, as a part of a landmark partnership with the British Museum.

The gallery will bring forth diverse histories and experiences of the South Asian diaspora living in Manchester and will generate new ideas, events, performances, learning and public programmes in the museum. Curated by Nusrat Ahmed, and co-curated with The South Asia Gallery Collective, a group of 30 inspiring individuals including community leaders, educators, artists, historians, journalists and musicians, the gallery will be a celebration of the contributions of the South Asian community in the UK.

The new South Asia Gallery will be the UK's first permanent space dedicated to the lived experience of the South Asian community. 

Showcasing over 140 historic artefacts from the collections of the Manchester Museum and British Museum, alongside new contemporary commissions and personal objects provided by the Collective, the gallery will present a range of personal stories that provide visitors with a window into South Asia. The gallery’s story-led design will reflect multiple voices and perspectives on South Asia through six overarching themes: Past & Present, Lived Environments, Innovation & Language, Sound, Music & Dance, British Asian, and Movement & Empire. 

Please see below for a selection of artists, curators and designers that have taken part in the project: 

The Singh Twins - Internationally renowned for their highly decorative work which explores re-defining Eurocentric perceptions of art, heritage and identity. The artists have had solo shows at London’s National Portrait Gallery, National Museums Scotland and the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai and Delhi. Pioneering a modern revival of Indian miniature painting within contemporary art practice, their newly commissioned mural for the gallery is 17 metres long and illustrates an emotional map of the South Asian diaspora experience. 

Azraa Motala - Based in Leicester and Preston, Azraa has been exhibiting her work across the country since 2014. Her self-portrait, I Beg You to Define Me, is a powerful commission that will explore what it means to be British Asian today, in British Asian space. 

Nusrat Ahmed - The gallery’s Community Producer is a first-generation, British-born South Asian, who could discuss her hopes to engage further diaspora communities through the gallery and support its continual evolution through her role and the personal objects in the collection