A new exhibition at Manchester Central Library will explore the untold stories of Black and Asian soldiers in the First World War.

The Poppy Retake, an emotive exhibition by Manchester-based Kooj Chuhan, is open from now through to February 24, 2018.

In the exhibition, visitors can witness specially-created films and installations, alongside displays by community research group, Southern Voices, assembled to raise the memories of fighters uprooted from British Empire nations in between 1914 - 1918.

Many of the millions of British colonial soldiers in World War One were from Punjab, the birthplace of Chuhan himself. In his work, he delves into the realities of World War One for the millions of Black and Asian soldiers, and examines promises that were made to such men as they were taken to battle fronts in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Chuhan says: "Modern war propaganda began with World War One, which obscured its pointlessness and deep colonial connections, while pretending to be the ‘war to end all wars’. This artwork explores coercion into war, involving an African woman working for a war-themed museum park."

Using war tourism and video games as metaphors for the dynamics of propaganda, the exhibition also casts a critical eye at war video games and their role in popular culture.

Chuhan continues: "Modern video gaming is now the epitome of obscuring both the horror and the colonial roots of much conflict.‘The Poppy Retake points out our multiple connections with wars as forms of cultural recruitment, in that war is something which many blithely accept as normal, but a reality which mostly impacts on people still struggling with their post-colonial existence."

Manchester Central Library (First Floor), St Peter’s Square, Manchester, M2 5PD / Open from December to February 24, 2018 / 9am-8pm Mon-Thurs; 9am-5pm Fri-Sat (Sunday closed) / 0161 234 1983