Discover the story of one of the most significant moments in the global struggle for freedom and independence in The Roads We Walked: The Fifth Pan-African Congress, a powerful new Big Picture Show at Imperial War Museum North. Created to mark the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, the immersive film explores the landmark gathering held in Manchester in October 1945, which helped shape the future of Africa and the wider Black diaspora.
The Fifth Pan-African Congress brought together more than 200 activists, intellectuals, trade unionists, journalists and political leaders from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States and Britain. Among those attending were future presidents Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Hastings Banda, alongside leading Pan-African thinkers including George Padmore, Amy Ashwood Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois. Their calls for self-determination, equality and an end to colonial rule would inspire independence movements across Africa in the decades that followed.
Written by a group of young poets from Manchester’s acclaimed literary charity Young Identity, the seven-minute film combines spoken-word poetry with powerful archive images, photography and immersive projection to explore the Congress’s enduring legacy. Rather than simply retelling history, the production reflects on Manchester’s continuing role as a city of activism, solidarity and social change, connecting the voices of 1945 with a new generation of creative storytellers.
Presented as part of the museum’s award-winning Big Picture Show, the film is projected onto the towering walls of the Main Exhibition Space using panoramic digital projection and surround sound, creating an unforgettable visitor experience. Alongside the story of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, visitors can explore Imperial War Museum North’s permanent galleries and exhibitions, placing the fight against colonialism within the wider context of twentieth-century conflict, freedom and social justice.
Free to attend and included with museum admission, The Roads We Walked: The Fifth Pan-African Congress offers a compelling introduction to one of the defining moments in Black international history and provides a fitting tribute during the 80th anniversary year of this landmark gathering.
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