Coventry’s south Asian heritage celebrated through family-inspired exhibition at the Herbert

Highlights

• Stories That Made Us – Roots, Resilience, Representation opens on Friday, 14 November at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
  
• The immersive exhibition explores five decades of south Asian life in Britain through one family’s story.
  
• Created by Coventry-born curator and artist Hardish Virk, the project blends archive materials, film, sound and design.
  

A family story that tells Britain’s story

A major new exhibition inspired by the life of one Coventry family will open next month at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, celebrating south Asian heritage and its influence on modern Britain.

Stories That Made Us – Roots, Resilience, Representation invites visitors to step inside a series of immersive spaces that trace five decades of south Asian experience in the UK from the first wave of migration in the 1960s to the present day.

Developed by artist and curator Hardish Virk, the exhibition transforms four gallery rooms into living sets filled with authentic detail, each exploring a different era through personal and community stories of migration, activism, identity and creativity.

From passport control to Punjabi radio

Visitors will begin their journey in a recreated 1960s passport control room, surrounded by photographs of Hardish’s family in India and newspaper clippings capturing the realities faced by newly arrived south Asian migrants.

The next space, a 1970s living room, recreates the Virk family home, a meeting place for the Indian Workers’ Association, which campaigned against racism and inequality in Coventry.

An 1980s teenager’s bedroom reflects the experience of being British-born and south Asian, with posters, cassette tapes and schoolbooks that speak to questions of belonging and identity.

Finally, a radio studio (1990s–2010) pays tribute to Hardish’s mother, Jasvir Kang, a poet and broadcaster whose Punjabi radio shows brought comfort and connection to south Asian households across the West Midlands.

The people behind the exhibition

The exhibition is drawn from Hardish Virk’s Stories That Made Us Collection and the Virk Collection at Coventry Archives. Together, they present hundreds of artefacts, photographs, books, posters, records, and personal memorabilia alongside oral histories, radio broadcasts and film installations created by film-maker Manjinder Virk of Riverbird Films.

Speaking about the project, Hardish Virk said:

“At its heart, Stories That Made Us is a human story, one family’s journey that opens up a bigger conversation about Britain’s relationship with south Asia. Through that personal lens, we’re inviting everyone to reflect, connect, and see themselves in this shared history.”

He added that the exhibition is also about showing that diverse and authentic stories can be presented “at the highest level”, describing it as a world-class collaboration between artists, designers and storytellers.

Coventry’s connection to south Asian heritage

With nearly one in five residents in Coventry identifying as Asian or Asian British, the exhibition also highlights the city’s long-standing links to migration and cultural exchange.

Marguerite Nugent, Cultural Director at Culture Coventry Trust, said:

“We are proud to host this extraordinary exhibition at the Herbert. It’s an immersive, emotional and vital celebration of south Asian heritage – and of Coventry’s history as a city of migration, creativity and solidarity.”

Alongside the exhibition, the Herbert is running a wider community engagement programme designed to strengthen partnerships with south Asian groups across the city and beyond.

Event details

Stories That Made Us – Roots, Resilience, Representation
📅 Opens Friday, 14 November
📍 Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry

The project has been made possible with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.