Collections

African: Ethiopian

British Museum

A 19th century picture of a religious procession by an unknown artistThe department of Africa, Oceania and the America (AOA) holds a collection of around 1450 objects from Ethiopia, including early archeological material, religious and secular paintings, ceramics, basketery, arms and armour, textiles and personal…
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African: Eritrean

British Museum

Basalt tombstone, 1188ADThe Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA) holds a small collection of Eritrean material includes archeological material, arms and armour, pottery and paintings. Coins, medals and paper money from Eritrea are held by the Department of Coins and Medals (C&M), from…
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African: Egyptian

British Museum

Cotton Dress with Embroidery, made by the Berber people. 20th century ADThe Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (AES) has the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It illustrates every aspect of ancient Egyptian civilisation (including Nubia)…
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African: Congolese

British Museum

Wooden carving of King, late 18th centuryThe Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA) holds a collection of around 9,000 objects from the modern Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo). A series of fieldwork expeditions made in the early 20th century by…
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African: Algerian

British Museum

Silk and cotton textile from 19th century AlgeriaThe Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA) holds a small collection of around 600 ethnographic objects from rural and urban Algeria dating from the nineteenth century to the present day: textiles, including rural Berber flat weaves…
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African

British Museum

The majority of objects from the continent of Africa are held by the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA), the Department of Ancient Egypt and the Sudan (AES) and the Department of Coins and Medals (C&M). The collections comprises over 200,000 objects and…
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British Museum - collection overview

British Museum

Indian Summer - temporary garden at the British MuseumThe British Museum exists to illuminate the histories of cultures, for the benefit of present and future generations. It is amongst the oldest and largest museums in the UK, and holds material from practically every country in…
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Oceania

British Library, London

The British Library has the largest collection on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands in the United Kingdom.From early colonial texts through to contemporary literature, the monograph collections cover a broad range of humanities, social science and general interest topics.  You can see more…
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North, West & Southern Europe: Irish

British Library, London

The British Library's Modern Irish Collections (1915-) hold a wide range of subjects in the humanities and social sciences in mainly book, journal and pamphlet form. Coverage of historical and literary subjects is particularly strong. The output of academic publishers and institutions in the Irish…
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Near & Middle East

British Library, London

Most of the British Library's Arabic-language material is held as part of the Oriental and India Office Collections.The Library's collection of Arabic manuscripts is world-famous. It is one of the largest such collections in Europe or North America, comprising almost 14,000 manuscripts, representing nearly 20,000…
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Eastern Europe

British Library, London

The British Library's collections in the field of Slavonic, East European and Soviet Studies are the largest in the UK, and probably in Western Europe.The policy of the East European Section is to acquire, as widely as possible, material of research value published in all…
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Caribbean

British Library, London

Cutting the Sugar Cane c.1786Using the themes of sugar, slavery and the making of the West Indies, Caribbean Views explores the African slave trade and the contrasting lives of plantation owners and plantation life as experienced by the slave population. The experiences of former slave…
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Asian: Indian

British Library, London

The British Library hold the India Office Records: that is, all the documents relating to the British rule of India prior to independence in 1947. There is a long introduction to the material online on the British Library's website.The India Office Records and private papers at The British Library
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African

British Library, London

Drawing on items in the British Library and other collections such as the Royal College of Music and Wandsworth Local History Service, Mike's second exhibition, Black Europeans, features five people of African descent who made a contribution to the mainstream of European culture and society:…
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British Library - collections overview

British Library, London

Cutting the Sugar Cane c.1786The British Library is custodian of the most important research collection in the world, spanning almost 3,000 years and from every continent. They have an extensive online catalogue of their books, sound recordings and paper holdings already online. This page therefore…
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Religious Group: Sikh

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre

Bexley Local Studies and Archives Centre holds a varied collection of archive material relating to the history and culture of the Sikh community living in Bexley. Oral history interviews, photographs and typed research notes on the history and culture of the Sikh Community in the…
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North, West & Southern Europe: Travelling Communities

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre

Gypsy children on Belvedere Marshes in 1919Bexley Archive holds photographs from the Boswell Collection, showing the lives of Gypsies in the borough in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It also holds the papers of Erith Urban District Council and those of James Wellbeloved MP.…
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Brent Museum - collection overview

Brent Museum

Although in a highly multicultural area, Brent Museum used to hold relatively limited amounts of materials from post-war immigrants to Britain. More has been collected recently. There is some costume, and a certain amount of packaging, from the main communities in the area (Indian, Caribbean…
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Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre - collection overview

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre

Bexley Local Studies and Archives Centre have recently begun a project to reflect the experience of diverse cultural groups in this outer borough of London. Their first major project has been with the Sikh Community. Bexley also has a long connection with Gypsies and Travellers…
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City of Westminster Archives Centre - collection overview

City of Westminster Archives Centre

The City of Westminster Archives Centre holds extensive collections relating to family, local, business and community history.Materials relating to Black & Asian history can be found through our online catalogues and our collections guide "Sources for Black and Asian History at the City of Westminster…
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