Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Where is Home? Leicester exhibition explores answers

Curator explains the journey of south Asians who migrated to Britain

Where is Home? Leicester exhibition explores answers

ALNOOR MITHA had an idyllic childhood, spending his days climbing hills, swimming in lakes and listening to the sounds of lions roaring in his home

town of Ngora in Uganda.


Then, when he was nine, it was all snatched away in a heartbeat. He and his family were among the 50,000 Asians expelled from Uganda, in 1972, under the dictatorship of Idi Amin.

Mitha’s new exhibition, Where is Home? tells the story of those who migrated to the UK from Uganda and of other south Asians who came to Britain after Partition.

“I vividly remember my amazing childhood growing up in Uganda,” Mitha, a senior research fellow at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, told Eastern Eye.

“I climbed these incredible hills. Lake Kyoga was not far from our house, so we could hear all the animals. We had mangoes dropping from trees and I would go with buckets to pick them up. In some ways, it was a Mowgli-like childhood.”

LEAD Alnoor Mitha 20220704 122550 Mitha’s new exhibition tells the story of south Asian migrations to the UK

When the expulsion order came, not only were Mitha and his family forced to leave their homeland, they also ended up being separated – with some relatives settling in Somerset while others travelled to Naples, Italy.

“There was a passport issue with my dad, my eldest and younger sisters, so they had to go to Naples. Me and my older sisters and brothers came to the UK. We had another brother who had won a scholarship and was already in Manchester studying. But we couldn’t meet him straight away and had to stay at a camp in Somerset for about a month.”

LEAD Alnoor Mitha INSET 6 A refugee special train at Ambala Station during partition of India An image of refugees at Ambala station in north India during Partition

Mitha described the camp as being like a dormitory, housing Ugandan immigrants. Eventually the family would reunite in the UK after the passport issues were sorted out.

He said his first memory of arriving in the country was “feeling my nose being really cold. “I hadn’t experienced anything like this before, coming from a hot country,” he explained.

LEAD Alnoor Mitha INSET 2 Prayer beads 20220704 122754 Copy Prayer beads

Where is Home? explores the origins of south Asian migration to the UK, marking the 75th anniversary of India’s Partition in 1947, and the 50th anniversary of the expulsion from Uganda.

The exhibition features a newly commissioned film that examines the experience of south Asian communities who settled in the UK, and how they have shaped the country.

There are contributions from notable artists and curators, including Mitha, his daughter Amani Mitha, Jai Chuhan, Jasmir Creed, Saima Rasheed and John Lyons, all of whom explore the themes of migration and belonging in their work.

Personal objects donated to the project feature in the exhibition, including a passport, saris, suitcases, a prayer mat and rosary beads. Each item was chosen to be something instantly recognisable to a south Asian visitor.

“The film is an artistic process, a kind of lived experience asking artists about their personal migration journey,” said Mithal, who donated the passport he carried with him from Uganda to the UK.

LEAD Alnoor Mitha INSET 5 Ghuwail Village Family Tree Amal Abdul Rahim A Ghuwail Village FamilyTree


“Usually what happens with projects like this is that you have lots of historical data and information about what’s happened. But what I wanted to do was create a narrative that really responds to what contemporary artists are doing, and how they reflect on migration through their own backgrounds, their own stories, their own specific points of view.

“For example, John Lyons is a painter and a poet from Trinidad who lives in Cambridge. His dialogue is incredibly poignant. He came here and faced racism – he was challenged about where he came from, and it made him realise that he didn’t have a British passport. He had a colonial passport – I don’t know what that looked like. He then got naturalised and was given a blue passport.

“These stories are moments in time that were frozen. But now we get to see and hear the journey of these individuals.

“It connects with the people here in the UK, because let’s not forget what’s happening around the corner, with the Ukraine war and the refugee crisis. So it’s very much hits the senses, if you like.”

LEAD ALnoor Mitha INSET 3 Passport 20220704 122738 A passport

Local community groups are also contributors to the project, with first- and second-generation Asians discussing what ‘home’ means to them, in the context of post-imperial Britain.

Mitha said: “Where is home? For many Asian communities, this is a simple question with a complicated answer. I was born in Uganda, but have made my home here in the UK; my children were born here and have always lived here, but still face racism from those who do not see them as British.

“Through this exhibition we examine the idea of home, asking what it really means. We bring in the complex history of Britain and the south Asian diaspora, and hear the voices of artists and everyday south Asian people.”

LEAD Alnoor Mitha INSET 1 Curator Alnoor Mitha

For the 59-year-old, the UK is home. But part of Mitha still belongs in Uganda, as he revealed he left someone behind there all those years ago.

“Sadly, my mum passed away when I was young. She was buried in Uganda,” he said. “I went back home to Ngora five years ago. And I went the graveyard to trace my mum’s grave.

“Unfortunately, the gravestone was not there. But there were other gravestones and I offered prayers there.

“For me, that was a cleansing experience, going there to remember my mum, to kind of give my blessing. It was just a very beautiful experience.”

Where is Home? is at the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, with further presentations at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in association with Black Country Touring, mac Birmingham, Whitworth Gallery (Manchester) and the Migration Museum (London). The Birmingham and Wolverhampton exhibitions are part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.

Where is Home? also includes additional events, such as live performances from

Sampad Arts in Birmingham, a Q&A with author Neema Shah in Wolverhampton and a day of festivities in London.

More For You

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal recalled that in February, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trade talks with US moving forward positively, says Indian minister Goyal

INDIA’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that negotiations on the proposed trade agreement between India and the United States, which began in March, are progressing in a positive atmosphere and both sides are satisfied with the discussions.

He recalled that in February, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. (Representational image: iStock)

Woman raped in racially aggravated attack in Oldbury

A WOMAN in her 20s was raped in Oldbury in what police are treating as a racially aggravated attack.

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. Officers said the men made a racist remark during the incident.

Keep ReadingShow less