Exhibition
The Music Is Black: A British Story
Find out more
Moments Away From Home: Migration on Film and in Words
Explore migration as resistance and reinvention—through film, literature, and lived experiences. Uncover stories of displacement, incarceration, survival, and solidarity, celebrating diasporas, new voices, and the power of culture and community.
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Past Event
You are invited to explore some lesser-known narratives of migration—stories of displacement, separation, imprisonment, and limbo, but also of solidarity, refuge, and resilience. Through film, literature, and discussion, we take into account the diverse range of migrant experiences - the journey, arrival, settlement, and the creative survival that follows.
We delve into unexpected friendships, fractured upbringings, and the complexities of love and identity in unfamiliar places. From Afropean perspectives to indentured histories, from new tongues to hybrid cultures, we explore how diasporas shape and are shaped by the places they inhabit—often marking their presence and territory through popular culture, resistance, and reinvention.
We reflect on the legal and historical frameworks that have defined British identity and belonging, including the 1948 and 1981 British Nationality Acts, the 1971 Immigration Act, and the 2023 Illegal Migration Act. These laws are not just policy—they are lived realities, shaping generations of lives and legacies.
This is a space for reflection, recognition, and reimagining what it means to find or make a home.
Confirmed speakers below:
- Brian Samuel, British Grenadian writer presenting Songs for My Father: A West Indian Journey.
- Eithne Nightingale, award winning researcher, writer, and filmmaker with Maurice Nwokeji, musician, both presenting Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain, alongside BAFTA nominated films.
- Jacqueline Crooks FRSL, award winning writer presenting Fire Rush and The Ice Migration.
- Joanna Alexander, filmmaker, storyteller, and producer presenting The Homemaker.
- Sheba Montserrat, poet, actor, storyteller, and dancer presenting Staying Afloat in West Berlin.
- Reverend Steve Gayle and Sheba Montserrat presenting Windrush Allies.
- Zarna Hart, Trinidadian curator, designer, and educator exploring estrangement and incarceration in the V&A collections.
View the programme for further information.
Programme is subject to change without notice.
Related events
Header image: The Black House (Black Power), Colin Jones, 1973