Cov Futures: Stories That Made Us - Activism, Identity and Belonging

Hardish Virk is bringing his Stories That Made Us workshop to The Albany Theatre on Saturday 7 November, a session that asks you to dig through your own drawers and boxes for the things that hold your history. It's a free workshop, running from 2pm for three hours with two comfort breaks, so you'll want to clear a good chunk of your afternoon for it.

Stories That Made Us is a South Asian heritage and cultural project led by Virk, who works as an archivist, curator and artist. The whole thing is built on the idea that personal archives — the bits of paper and old objects we keep — have a value all their own. It's open to people from different ethnic and faith backgrounds to share their own heritage stories of migration, activism, family, friendship, identity and belonging. During the workshop, Virk talks about how objects found in archives can inspire stories told on stage or in exhibitions, and then invites you to bring in your own personal items — photographs, leaflets, zines, badges, records — to share your own stories. The work starts from South Asian heritage, but it's meant to reach beyond that.

Hardish Virk has a long history in the arts. He started out in the 1980s as an actor, director, producer, writer, visual artist and DJ, and since then he's advised arts, cultural and heritage organisations across the UK and Europe. He set up this project in 2021, following the exhibition Stories That Made Us - Roots, Resilience, Representation, which he conceived and co-curated with the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. If you've got a box of old photos or a few keepsakes you've never quite known what to do with, this is a good place to bring them and see where they lead. It's free, starts at 2pm on Saturday 7 November at The Albany, and runs for three hours with two breaks.