Young researchers need greater access to Britain’s rich archives, says curator

An image from Notting Hill Carnival in 2014 from the exhibition at the British Library, which explores the history of Black music in Britain. Photograph: Adrian Boot

Young cultural researchers need greater access to the UK’s rich archival resources so untold stories can be brought to light, according to the curator of an exhibition that documents five centuries of Black British music, from the Tudor court to grime.

Dr Aleema Gray has assembled Beyond the Bassline, an expansive tour through the past 500 years of Black British musical history, which is being hosted by the British Library – the exhibition pulls from its collection – and seeks to redefine the limits of what we consider Black British music.