True Form presents Request Line at The Manchester Museum

Request Line’ is the first exhibition of the True Form Projects vinyl archive. The 3000 records and other artefacts were rescued in 2017 from the Oriental Star Agencies store in Balsall Heath, Birmingham by Faisal Hussain before it was forced to close. The records were initially played at BBC Radio WM at Pebble Mill by Mohammed Ayub, Anita Bhalla and Farah Durrani as part of the ‘East in West’ radio show. As part of this exhibition, we are playing and showing some of the vinyl covers and the requests people sent in throughout the 1980s to the presenters.

‘In 1970 Mohammed Ayub founded Oriental Start Agencies in Birmingham. This record store and then label became one of the most influential and important parts of South Asian history and diaspora in the UK and worldwide. Before the store had to close in 2017, True Form Projects rescued much of the record collection and other artefacts in order to archive them and keep them protected for future generations. As part of a 3 year project, we are archiving over 3000 records and artefacts and will be collecting memories of the music and culture contained in these important records. As part of the Manchester Museums’ South Asia Gallery reopening, we shall be talking about the collection, the project and exhibiting some of the archive and it’s highlights that we have discovered so far including request letters, the artwork of the covers, memorabilia and much more.’

Request Line is the first exhibition of the True Form Projects vinyl archive. The 3000 records and other artefacts were rescued in 2017 from the Oriental Star Agencies store in Balsall Heath, Birmingham by Faisal Hussain before it was forced to close.

The installation is hosted in the South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum throughout South Asia Heritage Month.