Derby Museums has been successful in a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund developed in partnership with Black Country Visual Arts. The project will create an archive of historic images, accompanied by oral history recordings and new portrait photographs, that will tell past and present stories about the experiences of south Asian communities in Derby. These stories are missing from
Derby Museum’s collections, and the project will build an archive that enriches the heritage record of the city - the shared history of all its residents.
Black Country Visual Arts have experience of successfully delivering the National Lottery Heritage Funded Apna Heritage Archive, and their team has experience leading community-engaged projects in Derby. The funding is for projects which increase the understanding and care of heritage and that ensure a wider range of people will be involved in heritage. Further info available here:- Derby Museums
Laura Phillips, head of Interpretation and Display at Derby Museums, said:
“We want this project to be an opportunity for building relationships, increasing our understanding of the needs of communities and deepening our knowledge of the history of our collections through connecting them with the lived experience of people with south Asian heritage – whose stories are often missing from our museums.”
Anand Chhabra, Director, Black Country Visual Arts, said:
“Black Country Visual Arts is immensely proud to partner with Derby Museums on this amazing opportunity to record the heritage of the South Asian communities that have settled in Derby. We will invite local people to contribute, learn and develop skills as we look to recording participant’s first-hand experiences of migrating to the city.
We also look forward to working with various partner organisations and local community groups who have already committed to helping us deliver this project over the next two years. Our aim to co-produce their untold stories as oral histories and through digitisation of family photographs will enable us to help share the positive impact these communities have had during their time of settling in the city. We look forward to displaying the findings of our research in exciting ways over the next two years that will act as a co-created archive and a source of pride for future generations in the city of Derby.“
Photograph courtesy of P. Bassi, P.Bassi and family, Normaton, Derby.