Stories That Made Us – Roots, Resilience, Representation is a current exhibition by Hardish Virk at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, which traces the experiences of a South Asian family in Coventry from 1968 to 2010, drawing on Coventry Archives’ Virk Collection and curator & artist Hardish Virk’s personal archive. Through sound, film, photographs, books, magazines, posters, vinyl records, cassettes and immersive design, the exhibition explores migration, activism and cultural identity across generations.
Coventry is home to a vibrant South Asian community, with 18.5% of the city’s population identifying as Asian or Asian British (2021 Census). Despite this, the stories and contributions of South Asian communities are often underrepresented in public collections and exhibitions. This project aims to address this gap by preserving and sharing the heritage of South Asian migrants and their descendants, ensuring their stories are accessible to future generations.
Anchored by the themes of Roots (the journey of migration and the contributions of South Asian communities to British society), Resilience (the challenges faced and overcome by migrants and their families), and Representation (the importance of telling these stories authentically and without stereotyping), it asks urgent questions: whose stories are preserved, how are they told, and what does it mean to claim space within institutional memory? This is an exhibition about legacy, belonging and narratives that shape our cities.
Stories That Made Us – Roots, Resilience, Representation is open to the public: 14 November 2025 10.00am – 25 May 2026 4.00pm. More information HERE
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