GALLERY | FLOOR 1
Belonging Gallery
The Belonging Gallery draws upon collections and multiple cultural perspectives to reflect on how we come to know what belonging means for ourselves, other people, species and places.
We can know belonging through relationships, everyday objects, places, movement, and actions. Here, comics from 20 local, national, and international artists and writers tell stories of belonging. The comics aim to inspire empathy, bringing you into worlds that may feel familiar and sometimes taking you to places you can only imagine.
YILKWA (MONSTER FISH), FEATURED IN THE ANINDILYAKWA ARTS: STORIES FROM OUR COUNTRY DISPLAY IN THE BELONGING GALLERY.
Stories from the gallery
Kaleidoscope of Spears
Former Visitor Team member Sean discusses why Edher Numbi’s work in the Belonging Gallery means so much to him.
Dadikwakwa-kwa come out to play
Young visitor, Orla, poses questions to your Museum’s Curator of Indigenous Perspectives, Dr Alexandra Alberda, at one of the play sessions that allowed families to get up close to the Dadikwakwa-kwa (shell dolls) from the Anindilyakwa Arts: Stories from our Country display.
Gallery highlights
Kaleidoscope of Spears (detail), Edher Numbi (1989-2023)
In this comic, Congolese artist Edher Numbi encourages us to question stereotypes that have been created about African communities, especially African men. European colonialism crafted harmful and racist stereotypes of aggression, hyper-masculinity and hyper-sexuality about African men. Large museum displays of African spears and weapons have reinforced reductive and inaccurate ideas about African people and culture.
Portrait head, Peru
Pottery portrait head with a feline headdress, previously believed to be a bat headdress. The Moche man depicted, wears a batskin headdress and may have been a folk healer. Some believe that bats were able to detect the cause of witchcraft.
Life jacket
Refugee's life jacket from the Greek island of Lesbos collected as part of Manchester Museum's thematic collecting project in December 2016 and presented by the Municipality of Mytilene.