A Somali Village in Lister Park: Weaving Together Industry, Culture and Empire

An exhibition at Cartwright Hall examining the 1904 Somali Village colonial display at Bradford's Great Exhibition and its legacies.

This exhibition revisits the 1904 Great Exhibition in Lister Park, whose most popular attraction was the Somali Village, where 57 men, women and children lived and worked for six months as part of a colonial display. It examines how Bradford's art, institutions and public spaces were shaped by empire and how these histories have been obscured, inviting visitors to look beyond the colonial spectacle to the conditions that made Somali lives visible. The show also considers how these histories continue to shape the city today, and highlights can be previewed via Cartwright Hall's Bloomberg Connects guide.