Ancient Sudan: Enduring Heritage

‘Ancient Sudan: enduring heritage’ is a touring exhibition developed by the British Museum, which celebrates Sudanese culture and heritage. It features objects from the Kingdom of Kush, which was one of the largest empires in the ancient world. The exhibition also highlights the efforts of Sudanese people to protect their heritage, amid an ongoing war which has displaced millions. 

When the opportunity arose to bid to host the exhibition, we knew it was something we absolutely wanted to bring to the city. Our key strategic priority for the museum service is community engagement and accessibility. The project was also an excellent fit with wider council priorities and we knew it had the potential to diversify our audiences and bring in new ones.

Portsmouth City Council's corporate plan looks to ensure that the city is a welcoming, vibrant and inclusive place to live, work and visit and by providing cultural opportunities such as high-quality museum spaces, engagement and activity we are delivering against this objective.

We were aware that there was a well-established Sudanese community in Portsmouth. Following a successful expression of interest, we reached out to the Sudanese Community in and around Portsmouth, which organises social and cultural events to preserve heritage, and the Rural Refugee Network (RRN), which supports refugees from Sudan and other countries affected by conflict. 

After a few meetings a vibrant cultural evening was planned where the Sudanese community came together to celebrate and share their traditions. This was all filmed to be projected in the exhibition bringing it to life. This wonderful event led on to further collaboration with members of the community loaning us their personal objects, one object has been donated and permanently accessioned into the collection.

The community were so generous with their time and knowledge and came into the gallery space during the exhibition build to be actively involved in creating the displays, for example helping curator's to correctly display traditional dress and household items. 

This collaboration resulted in the successful co-curation of a community space alongside the British Museum display, featuring personal and everyday items that showcase Sudanese cuisine, dance, and cultural practices. The cultural celebration event, organised in partnership with the community, was also documented in a film and featured in the display. A ‘Wall of Hope’ featured poetry by young people from the RRN. In the months leading up to the exhibition, Young unaccompanied refugees being supported by the RRN took part in creative workshops and created very moving and beautiful poems which were displayed on the giant "wall of hope" in the exhibition. It was fantastic to see the reaction of some of the young people who attended and saw their words on public display. 

The exhibition opening event was well attended by the Sudanese community, Portsmouth Council, the British Museum, the RRN and the Embassy of Sudan. 

A longstanding member of our team has called it the most vibrant and positive launch event ever hosted at the museum.

The whole project working with the British Museum team, (which was made possible by the support of the Dorset Foundation), was overwhelmingly positive for Portsmouth Museums. It gave us the opportunity to bring objects that would never have been possible to our city and communities for so many people to enjoy. It sparked and enabled the creation of the community exhibition and partnership with the local Sudanese community which taught us so much.

Working with the British Museum team on all aspects of the project was a pleasure from start to finish and we all learnt a huge amount and made some invaluable professional contacts.

The project successfully engaged over 300 members of the Sudanese community, which was instrumental to the project’s success. Maza Mattar, a Sudanese-born Portsmouth resident who helped co-curate the exhibition, expressed her excitement, stating, ‘It was extremely exciting, and as a community, we all came together. It’s a big thing.’

As a result of the exhibition, we saw a 50 per cent increase in visitors on the opening weekend, and a notable increase in visitor numbers for this time of year. There were 9,439 visitors between opening and 31 March, along with a more diverse audience. 

We continued to engage with the community, holding additional events including a talk from the curator and family craft sessions. We arranged for 50 members of the Sudanese community to visit the British Museum.

The press coverage included the Telegraph, BBC and ITV, helping to raise awareness of Sudan’s cultural heritage. It also highlighted that Portsmouth Museum is a welcoming, inclusive space, available for everyone to enjoy.

One of the items loaned by the community was generously donated to us, which is an important legacy of this project. In a short time, we have built strong relationships that will continue far beyond the life of the project.

For more information contact [email protected]