Manchester Museum is celebrating South Asian Heritage Month with an unmissable two-day festival featuring film, music, workshops and more.

South Asian Heritage Month (18 July – 17 August) is an important celebration of South Asian heritage and history in the UK through arts, culture, education and commemoration The museum is delighted to be marking this with events that are programmed in collaboration with South Asian communities, artists and performers.

The festival is taking place on 22-23 July at the Whitworth on Oxford Road, while Manchester Museum is closed for its £15 million ‘hello future’ transformation. It will give audiences a taste of what’s to come when Manchester Museum reopens to visitors in 2023. The museum’s transformation includes a South Asia Gallery a British Museum partnership gallery and the UK’s first permanent space dedicated to exploring the stories, experiences, cultures and contributions of South Asian diaspora.

On 22 July there is an opportunity to attend the private screening of the Singh Twins’ film Jallianwala: Repression & Retribution followed by a conversation with the award-winning artists. The film focuses on their detailed artwork exploring the massacre of 13 April 1919, when a soldier of the British Raj ordered troops to open fire on a peaceful demonstration of unarmed Indian civilians.

The celebrations continue on 23 July with a series of Bengali folk music performances and a screening of a short film, ‘Our Songs’. Poetry workshops with young people from Our Shared Cultural Heritage (OSCH) will give attendees the chance to explore ‘taboo’ subjects in a safe space. Award-winning author Anita Sethi will host a writing workshop focusing on place, nature and journeying. And there will be a panel discussion with the South Asia Collective, a group of inspiring individuals who have been integral in the production and design of Manchester Museum’s forthcoming South Asia Gallery.

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