Where Is Home? In conversation with Finding Home & Curve Theatre

Enjoy a live tabla and sitar music performance, listen to our speakers and view our exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the Ugandan Asian exodus as well as India and Pakistan's 75th anniversary of partition.

We will be joined at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery for an in conversation with some of the team behind "Finding Home "– a programme of 3 new short plays by local writers whose families arrived in the UK from Uganda.

These plays can be seen at Curve in July and August.

In August 1972, Ugandan President Idi Amin ordered the country’s Indian and Pakistani communities to leave within 90 days. Many of the displaced were British citizens and, as a result, around 27,000 people emigrated to the UK, with thousands settling in Leicester.

These globally significant events have shaped modern Britain and we will look first hand at those directly affected by these cultural shifts, and explore the origins of how they began.

The speakers include:

Mandeep Glover - director of all three plays

Ashok Patel - writer of the play “90 days”.

Chandni Mistry - writer of the play “Ruka”.

About the short plays:

Ninety Days

Two couples – Wynnie and Joshua and Geeta and Sudesh – come face to face with the reality Amin’s orders as the ninety-day deadline nears. Tensions rise and loyalties, friendships and love collide with power, greed and confusion.

For Wynnie, ninety days to choose between following her head or her heart. For Geeta, ninety days to leave everything behind.

Influenced by real stories, Ninety Days looks at the journeys of those caught in the exodus from 1972 to today.

Call Me By My Name

An everyday question leads Darshan down a path of discovery into his family’s heritage. As his grandfather and great uncle recollect their arduous and dangerous journey fleeing from the Ugandan exodus and building a new life in Leicester, they begin to contemplate just how much of who they were – and who they are – can be found in a name.

Call Me By My Name is a heartfelt and moving story of identity, legacy and hope.

Ruka

Riya and her Mum live an ordinary life in Leicester, until one day Riya’s computer game suddenly leaps to life! As the game plays on, Riya discovers her Mum’s past was not as simple as she always thought.

Fun for all the family, Ruka is a fast and furious way to explore and learn the history of Ugandan Asians coming to Leicester.