Black Heritage Voices 2026

This year’s theme centres on creole identities, hidden heritage and the after lives of empire, the stories that shaped Britain yet remain marginal, obscured, or selectively omitted from the national record. By mapping creole worlds and the complex cultural exchanges that define African and Caribbean Diasporic experience, the conference interrogates how contemporary Britain continues to negotiate visibility, belonging and power. We explore how these narratives intersect with neo-colonial realities, where old hierarchies reappear in new forms from funding structures to museological practices and how they shape whose histories are elevated, whose are overlooked and how heritage is framed for public consumption. This lens opens critical conversations about cultural authorship, archival responsibility and the need to reimagine the structures that hold our histories. Through sessions focusing on creativity, digital innovation, community-led practice and the politics of historical interpretation, Black Heritage Voices invites delegates to challenge dominant perspectives and contribute to a broader shift towards narratives that honour complexity, hybridity and lived experience. The aim is not only to recover what has been forgotten, but to change the gaze, asserting Diasporic stories as central, not peripheral, to Britain’s past, present and future. Image Credit: Creole Woman. Martinique. 1900. picryl.com. Public Domain