Personal stories of family, migration and identity are at the heart of a new community art exhibition at St Albans Museum & Gallery marking South Asian Heritage Month. 

The show is the first to be staged in the museum’s new community space, which has been created to give local groups a platform to share their work and lived experiences. 

It features work by women from the Saheli Women’s Day Centre, part of Hertfordshire Asian Women’s Association Multicultural Services CIC (HAWA). 

The pieces were produced during a workshop led by local artist Suman Gujral. 

Gujral said the project explored how craft can reflect personal histories and help people preserve their culture and heritage. 

Participants drew on their own experiences to create individual works during the session. 

Gujral said: “The stories are about their families and their histories. 

“As they were working, they were sharing their stories and finding things they had in common.” 

Gujral’s own work, Phul, was shaped by her family history. Her parents, who were from Indian and Sikh backgrounds, were displaced during the Partition of India in 1947. 

Phul, meaning “flower”, was inspired by embroidery made by her mother and grandmother after the family resettled. 

Gujral said: “It’s very important to be able to tell my parents’ story in my artwork, especially now when many of those who experienced Partition are no longer here to tell their stories.”

Another contributor, Dina Mandalia, based her piece on a photograph of her late sister, Lila, on her wedding day.

Mandalia said: “I wish she were here to see it, as we treasure that photo all the time.”

She joined the workshop after being introduced to the group and began attending sessions where, she said, “every face had a lovely smile on it”. 

The exhibition also reflects this year’s South Asian Heritage Month theme, Unity in Diversity. 

Preet Cox, the museum’s community engagement officer, said the space was designed to allow communities to present their stories on their own terms. 

Cox said: “The community space gives local groups a platform to share their stories in a way that feels authentic to them. 

“When communities feel represented in museums, it creates a sense of belonging.”