Hope and Empathy take centre stage in powerful photography exhibition at Grosvenor Road Studios

A Coventry-based photographer will celebrate refugee women at Grosvenor Road Studios when he opens his portrait photography exhibition, Voices Unveiled on Thursday 17 April.

Oscar Mucyo’s exhibition, first shown at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in 2024 before moving to Coventry Cathedral, features a range of refugee and asylum-seeking women, providing a platform for them to reclaim their narratives and to promote empathy, understanding, and solidarity within local communities.

In celebration of this exhibition’s arrival at Birmingham’s historic music studios, five new portraits of the studios’ custodians Black Voices will also be unveiled. Europe's finest female a cappella quintet acquired Grosvenor Road Studios more than two decades ago with the support of Arts Council England, protecting its historic legacy and making it a key piece of North Birmingham’s cultural infrastructure in the years since.

"Voices Unveiled seeks to humanise the often-politicised human issue of immigration and migration. Not only does this exhibition aim to give voice and showcase the stories of people who have immigrated for one reason or another and their experiences, it also seeks to emphasise the significant contributions these individuals have made to the societies they have settled in. That’s why partnering with Black Voices, who are a gift to our society and have made significant contributions to the community surrounding Grosvenor Road Studios, brings another level of meaning to Voices Unveiled." Oscar Mucyo, a former refugee

13 portrait photographs will be on display at Grosvenor Road Studios from Monday 10 March, 2025. Grosvenor Road Studios boasts one of the largest recording studios in the West Midlands as well as a workspace of seven offices, a centre for arts training and development, a hub for arts and community development, and a woodland garden for local children and their families.

The studios are also part of Birmingham’s Warm Welcome Spaces network, enabling a more deeply connected society where we all have free access to welcoming community spaces. As a Warm Welcome Space, Grosvenor Road Studios provides a space where people can come together to take part in activities, access services, get practical advice and support, as well as meet members of their community.

"Not only is Grosvenor Road Studios a creative, cultural and community hub, we are also a welcome space full of human warmth, belonging, connection and hope. Oscar’s exhibition offers another reason for members of our local community to step through our doors." Carol Pemberton MBE, Founder and Managing Director of Black Voices

Oscar Mucyo’s exhibition, Voices Unveiled is free to view and on display until October 2025.