Approximately 68 million people live in the UK. Languages spoken across the nation include English, Welsh, Polish, Romanian, Punjabi and Urdu, to name just a few. The 2021 census showed that more than 10 million individuals identified as an ethnicity other than white. The country has been profoundly shaped by immigration, from the Windrush Generation from the Carribean and West Indies to arrivals after the 2004 expansion of the EU to include include seven nations from the Eastern Bloc. Each group brought exciting foods, music, cultural practices, fashions, languages and art, enriching the communities in which they settled. A new exhibition at Impressions Gallery spotlights photography that celebrates the diversity of life in the UK today. Nationhood: Memory and Hope is led by a new series from iconic artist Aïda Muluneh, alongside the works of seven emerging artists. It kicks off Bradford’s year as City of Culture, which will offer a programme of arts, entertainment and educational events to celebrate the area’s rich heritage. In beginning with Nationhood: Memory and Hope, the City of Culture’s message – that communities are stronger for their differences and variety – is resoundingly clear.
The cornerstone of the show is The Necessity of Seeing, a major new collection by the acclaimed Ethiopian creative Aïda Muluneh (b. 1974). The visual artist is known for Afrofuturist constructed images that incorporate vibrant colours and body painting to create surreal scenes. Muluneh’s work has been exhibited across the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Photographers Gallery, London and C/O Berlin. The 2018 series Water Life was one of the key features in Tate’s landmark 2024 show, A World in Common. Muluneh also founded the Addis Foto Fest, the first international photography festival in East Africa, as well as The Africa Foto Fair. In 2019, she became the first Black woman to co-curate the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition. Her reach and influence are almost unparalleled, and she now turns this experienced lens upon the British Isles.
The Necessity of Seeing features images shot at locations in Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, revealing the overlooked stories, forgotten histories and quiet moments that shape the nation. Muluneh intertwines her signature colourful backdrops with recognisable UK scenery, including churches and theatres. She adopts the imagery of body scarification, painting and tattooing that are common in traditions throughout the Global South, placing them in British pastoral and urban settings. In one image, two figures perch atop a dry stone wall, the sky behind a characteristic British grey. The images echo the UK’s multiculturalism, borne from adopting and embracing parts of diasporic histories like the artist’s own. Muluneh explained: “For me, it’s a mix of photojournalism and artistic expression, and then putting elements of myself within it. That’s what makes the work interesting and rich, is being able to visualise all of the different things that I’ve experienced and different stories that I’ve heard. It’s not just me coming and taking photos. I have memories of church, I have memories of being an immigrant in a place where I didn’t know anyone. The environment was very different. The weather was not what I was used to. So all of these things formulate what is my final piece.”
The exhibition also features the work of seven rising stars in UK photography, who explore issues of history, identity, race, gender and religion. Shaun Connell pays tribute to his Jamaican mother and Christian faith believers in Bradford, whilst fellow Yorkshire artist Roz Doherty captures both the energy and uncertainty of youth in a new set of studio portraits. Dohety’s pictures are particularly refreshing in their representation of various body types, disability, ages and races. The artist refuses to neglect any corner of present-day society. Miriam Ali and Haneen Hadiy both focus on Scotland, with Ali spotlighting grassroots activists from community organisations in Glasgow, whilst Hadiy views the beauty of Scottish landscapes through the lens of Islamic symbolism. Chad Alexander explores the transformation of an Irish National Foresters club in Dungannon into a vibrant multicultural community hub. Robin Chaddah-Duke reunites 1970s stalwarts of The Parade Community Education Centre in Cardiff to recreate a group portrait, and Grace Springer showcases the vibrancy of local game changes from the city’s African and Caribbean disaporas. Together, these artists offer a distinctly modern view of the nation, reflecting the complex and evolving nature of UK identity.
In a world that feels more divided every day, Nationhood: Memory and Hope is an essential reminder of what unites us. It is an uplifting celebration of how diversity makes the country, community and our everyday lives richer and more colourful.
Nationhood: Memory and Hope is at Impression Gallery, Bradford until 26 April: impressions-gallery.com
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
The Dew at Dawn, 2024, part of The Necessity of Seeing collection © Aïda Muluneh courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Impressions Gallery.
Reflections of the Seeker, 2024, part of The Necessity of Seeing collection © Aïda Muluneh courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Impressions Gallery.
Solidarity Forever, 2024, part of The Necessity of Seeing collection © Aïda Muluneh courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Impressions Gallery.
The Edge of Tomorrow’s Memory, 2024, part of The Necessity of Seeing collection © Aïda Muluneh courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Impressions Gallery.
