The exhibition aims to encourage reflection on broader issues facing museums today, including empire, colonialism, repatriation and the display of human remains.
It brings together objects from across the city’s collections, spanning natural science to art, focusing on their cultural roots and how they came to be in Birmingham.
Among the items on display will be the Sultanganj Buddha, one of the most important early bronze statues from India that was discovered during the construction of the Indian railway. Also on display is a 22-foot-long Inuit kayak, and mummified animals.
Zak Mensah and Sara Wajid, co-chief executives of Birmingham Museums Trust, said:
“Museums have in the past tended to overlook stories involving histories of empire and conflict. They’ve been ‘the elephant in the room’ – something that’s too big to hide but is ignored because it seems too complicated or uncomfortable to deal with.
“By confronting these questions, this display aims to ‘shrink the elephant’ by acknowledging the impact of the British Empire on Birmingham’s museums, facing complex topics with curiosity, treating these stories with sensitivity and respect and having an open and ongoing conversation with audiences about how we should care for and display these objects in the future.”
