• Derek Bishton was one of the photographers behind Handsworth Self-Portrait

• Trevor Mathison, founding member of the Black Audio Film Collective, was sound designer for Handsworth Songs

• Both visited new installation Handsworth Stories on 22 October.  

Two influential figures whose work helped to document Handsworth’s social history visited a new installation at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery reflecting the experiences of one of Britain’s earliest and most significant multicultural communities.

Trevor Mathison, sound designer for John Akomfrah’s landmark film Handsworth Songs and a founding member of the Black Audio Film Collective, and Derek Bishton, writer and one of the photographers behind the Handsworth Self-Portrait project, visited the new Handsworth Stories gallery on Thursday 22 October.

Their visit came as Birmingham marked the 40th anniversary of Akomfrah’s film which explores race, identity and civil unrest in Handsworth, Birmingham and London in 1985.

The film was premiered at Birmingham Film and Television Festival on 24 October 1986.  

Mathison’s distinctive sound design was integral to the groundbreaking film, which combined documentary footage, archival material, interviews and music.

Bishton’s work on the Handsworth Self-Portrait project in 1979 helped local residents tell their own stories through photography.

The project is a landmark in British photography and social history because it handed the power of representation directly to one of the UK's first truly multicultural communities.

Bishton, the only surviving member of the team behind Handsworth Self-Portrait, which also included Brian Homer and John Reardon, is currently collaborating with Dewi Lewis Publishing on a limited hardback edition of photographs from the project, funded through a Kickstarter campaign which closes on 3 November.  

During their visit, the pair explored the Handsworth Stories exhibition, met its curator and other members of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery team.  

Derek Bishton said:

"Seeing the Handsworth Self-Portrait photographs juxtaposed with Handsworth Songs was incredibly powerful - both disrupting who gets to tell the stories of a community and how those stories are represented.  

“The issues raised about representation, identity and questioning traditional narratives are just as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. It’s a reminder of the importance of continuing to challenge the way communities see and understand their history.”

Trevor Mathison said:

“It was a real pleasure to come back to Birmingham and see Handsworth Songs presented as part of Handsworth Stories at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.  

“But it is also troubling to reflect on how much of what the film was responding to 40 years ago still resonates today. There are echoes of those events and experiences in the world around us now.  

“Seeing the film in this context reminds us why it was made, why it still matters, and why we must keep looking critically at the stories we tell about our communities and our society.”

Ian Sergeant, senior curator (global majority collections) at Birmingham Museums Trust, said:

“I’m delighted to have been able to welcome Derek Bishton and Trevor Mathison to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

“Their artistic work has made an enormously important contribution to documenting Handsworth’s social history by capturing the first-hand experiences of its communities and their legacy continues to shape how we understand and tell the story of Handsworth today.”

The visit formed part of a wider programme of events marking the film’s anniversary, including a workshop and discussion at Birmingham City University’s School of Art and a screening of Handsworth Songs, followed by a Q&A, at Mockingbird Cinema.

Handsworth Stories has been made possible with support from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, John Ellerman Foundation and John Feeney Charitable Trust.