Bradford exhibition revisits live Somali display from 1904
Bradford exhibition revisits: A new exhibition in Bradford revisits a live Somali display that took place at the city’s Great Exhibition of 1904. The display featured 57 Somali men, women, and children who cooked, weaved, and danced for visitors. It was promoted as a rare opportunity to see a “little known but interesting people” and attracted hundreds of thousands of Edwardian visitors to Yorkshire.
The Somali village was one of the most popular and profitable attractions at the Great Exhibition, drawing more than 350,000 visitors. The revenue helped fund Cartwright Hall’s civic art collection for many years. The display presented a village of Somalis, described as Bradford’s first Muslim community, living their daily lives from May to October. Activities included slaughtering sheep for meals, attending school, and learning Arabic and the Qur’an.
Context and complexities of the Somali village display
Curators of the new exhibition emphasize that the phrase “human zoo” oversimplifies the complex reality of the Somali village. Abira Hussein, guest curator, explained that while the term captures the violence of colonial display, it overlooks the conditions of recruitment, labour, and negotiation that shaped the village’s existence.
Members of the Somali troupe, including their leader and broker Sultan Ali, negotiated contracts and wages, sold crafts to visitors, and reportedly staged a protest after a fire destroyed four huts. They received compensation of £15, equivalent to just over £1,600 today, which they considered inadequate. Some members chose to return to Somalia, while others continued touring in Germany, Europe, and North America.
The exhibition does not aim to recreate the spectacle but seeks to centre the lives and experiences of the Somali people and examine how the British Empire influenced Bradford’s cultural institutions and wealth. Hussein stated, “This is not a redisplay. It’s about thinking critically about why this display happened in the first place, how these people were framed, and the wider colonial systems that made it possible.”
Colonial legacy and cultural impact in Bradford
Similar exhibitions toured Europe and North America during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, such as the 1895 African Exhibition at Crystal Palace, London. Guest curator Yahya Birt, who discovered his grandmother attended the 1904 exhibition, highlighted that Yorkshire’s colonial involvement is often overlooked. He noted that while British colonialism is frequently associated with cotton, the story of wool as a colonial commodity and its wealth generation in Yorkshire remains largely untold.
The exhibition identifies artworks funded by profits from the Somali village, including a 1906 marble bust of Lister, known as Baron Masham, and a 1907 children’s book, The Magic Carpet by Arthur Rackham. Lizzie Cartwright, collections manager at Bradford District Museums and Galleries, said the project is about recognising the organisation’s role in history and the significance of the Somali village as Bradford’s first Muslim community.
The exhibition also explores how postcards and photography shaped the “white gaze” during the Edwardian era. Birt explained that people were acculturated to view others in a particular way through these media. The display includes season tickets, commemorative badges, postcards, and archaeological finds from Lister Park, alongside Somali textiles, mats, fans, and baskets loaned by Culture House and Koor Archives, many of which have never been shown in a British institution before.
Hussein and Birt emphasize that the exhibition does not present a sanitized view. Hussein said, “There was exploitation and unequal power, but there was also resistance and negotiation.” The exhibition also tells the stories of Halimo Abdi Badal and Khadija Yorkshire, believed to be the first recorded Muslim burial and birth in Bradford, highlighting one of the oldest Black and Muslim communities in the region.
Researchers hope descendants of those who lived in the Somali village may come forward with memories, photographs, stories, or poetry passed down through oral history. Hussein remarked, “We know there’s still more history to uncover.”
