“Even really senior gatekeepers can feel that it’s not easy being a person of colour” – Salford portrait exhibition weighs on continuous workplace discrimination

A Black History Month exhibition in Salford Museum and Art Gallery has helped to showcase continuous workplace discrimination minorities in Salford.

Allie Crewe, photographer, shared her experience after months of interviewing and taking portraits pictures of key NHS figures, some of the people sharing their stories on discrimination and workplace racism.

She said: “Most people talk about racism, racism in the workplace, racism all growing up. They talk about resilience.

“I think a common theme is having to work twice as hard or three times as hard.”

Allie’s pictures were first commissioned by the NHS Salford Integrated Care Partnership. Her 46 portraits are now featured in the Still I Rise exhibition.

The exhibition aims to celebrate and empower Black, Asian, and other local minority ethnic voices by showing portraits of key figures.

The portraits include local councillors, NHS workers and charity workers like Pipeeh Miyalu.

Pipeeh Miyalu, cofounder of Warm Hut UK in Salford, said: “When I newly came here, they told me that the only job I can do was a cleaning job… and for a lot of people for my community, the only job that we can do is to be cleaners.

“For me to empower a lot of people to go to school to get jobs, and also to help my community to contemplate education is something good.”

Warm Hut UK is a charity providing help and support to immigrants and asylum seekers who just arrive to the UK.

Based in St. James’ House on Pendleton Way, Warm Hut UK was set up in 2010 after a lack of local charities focussed on ethnic voices and needs.

It sets out to help women, families, and anyone struggling with the new environment of living in the UK as well as its language.

She said: “At the beginning we were just helping people who were not speaking English as first languages.

“But at the moment we’ve got services for English speaking countries and non-English speaking countries, mainly for French, Portuguese and English-speaking background.”

On the anecdote of having her picture taken she commented on the professionalism of the photographer surprised at how such an informal chat turned into an important conversation.

The exhibition “Still I Rise” is open and free to access at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery until December 4.