Afro Heritage Project and Leicester Museums & Galleries: Celebrating Black History Month

We are proud to announce a special collaboration between Afro Innovation Group’s Afro Heritage Project and Leicester Museums & Galleries as part of Black History Month 2025 to create opportunities for the public to experience African culture in the heart of Leicester.

AIG Museum Takeover – Saturday 11th October

Join us at Leicester Museum & Art Galleries for a day of celebration, performance and storytelling. The AIG Museum Takeover will fill the gallery with music, dance and the voices of African communities who have made Leicester their home.

Throughout the day, visitors can enjoy:

• Live performances of traditional dancing and singing from Swahili/Bantu, Congolese, Moroccan, Ethiopian and Eritrean artists.

• Storytelling sessions in the Leicester Stories Gallery, sharing heritage and lived experiences across generations.

• Opportunities to meet the AIG team and learn more about our ongoing work with communities in Leicester and beyond.

All activities are free of charge and open to everyone.

Objects and Stories on Display

For the whole of Black History Month, Leicester Museum & Art Galleries will feature a new display co-curated with AIG. This includes objects collected from Leicester’s African communities, items both old and new that carry meaning, memory and identity.

The Object of the Month for October will showcase rarely seen Tanzanian masks, first acquired by Leicester Museums in 1980. Until recently, very little was known about their origins. Thanks to members of AIG and our Afro Heritage Project team, new context and interpretation have been added to help visitors understand their cultural significance.

These masks, likely from north-east Tanzania, reflect themes ranging from fertility to spirit traditions, with designs linked to both Masai and Igbo influences. The chisel marks visible on the reverse remind us of the craft and history embedded in these objects.

Why This Matters

Black History Month is a time to reflect, celebrate and amplify the voices that have shaped Leicester’s diverse identity. By working in partnership, AIG and Leicester Museums are making sure African heritage is represented and told through the perspectives of those who live it.

This collaboration is part of the Afro Heritage Project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which seeks to document, preserve and share the migration journeys of African communities in Leicester from the 1940s to the present day.

📍 Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester LE1 7EA

📅 Saturday 11th October 2025

🕘 All day, free entry

We look forward to welcoming you to this celebration of African culture, history and heritage.