A powerful new exhibition in Coventry is taking visitors on an immersive journey through four decades of South Asian life in Britain. Curated by local artist Hardish Virk, 'The Stories That Made Us: Roots, Resilience, Representation' has opened at the city's Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
A Living Museum of Personal and Political History
The exhibition is built from Virk's family archive, using photography, film, music, and personal memorabilia to tell a wider story of migration and community. The 54-year-old curator describes the original concept as "a living museum of south Asian stories," a space where narratives could be shared across generations and decades.
Visitors first encounter a border control area, showing footage of South Asian communities arriving in the UK during the 1960s. Virk, however, roots the story deeper, highlighting historic connections like the 1600 founding of the East India Company and two centuries of British colonial rule.
The heart of the show is a meticulous recreation of Virk's childhood living room on St George's Road. A stereo plays the Hindi film anthem 'Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge', while copies of the Punjabi newspaper Des Pardes (Home Abroad) sit on a table. This intimate setting opens into a broader exploration of social and political life.
Activism, Identity, and Confronting a Hostile Environment
The exhibition pays homage to the anti-racism work of Virk's late father, Harbhajan Singh Virk. Displayed pamphlets show his involvement with the Indian Workers' Association and the Communist Party in the 1970s, including a leaflet calling for protests after the racist murder of teenager Satnam Singh Gill in Coventry in 1981.
Virk draws direct parallels between the hostility faced by his parents' generation and contemporary discourse. "Recently we've had a lot of conversations around migration, hotels, flags. That's heightened racist attacks," he states. The passport control space, he explains, shows "the hostile environment that people of my parents' generation experienced... That's exactly the same hostile environment that we're talking about today."
Despite what he calls the "normalisation of racism" in recent years, Virk stresses his parents' struggles were not in vain. "They still set the foundation on which we are able to do this," he affirms.
Celebrating Intersectional Lives and Women's Voices
A recreation of Virk's 1980s teenage bedroom reveals the intersectional identities of British-born South Asians, with posters of Michael Jackson and Madonna alongside bhangra newspapers. "Friends, relationships, music, fashion, movies – all of that. I wanted to encapsulate that as well," says Virk.
A dedicated radio studio space honours his late mother, the poet Jasvir Kang, who broadcast a Punjabi show in the 1990s. Her poems often tackled domestic violence and abuse. Virk is keen to move beyond stereotypical narratives of South Asian women of that era being confined to domestic roles. "I'm also saying that those women had a really important role... There were women like my mother who were going against the status quo," he explains.
The exhibition concludes with a reflection space, allowing visitors to process challenging memories. Many have left notes sharing their own experiences. One wrote about having "P*** graffitied on to our car," while another described the show as having "cathartically taken me on a joyous, emotional, beautiful journey."
'The Stories That Made Us: Roots, Resilience, Representation' runs at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry until 25 May 2026.
