Windrush Culture is a series of short films exploring and celebrating the creative legacy of the Windrush Generation on contemporary artists in Birmingham.
The films were produced by The Red Earth Collective in partnership with Birmingham Museums Trust and will be used by the Museum as an educational resource shared with schools across the West Midlands.
Windrush Culture was originally broadcast as a live stream from The Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum in June and has been viewed on-line over 1000 times.
The event was hosted by Cultural and Community Researcher Garry Stewart with performances by Birmingham musicians Call Me Unique and Ire-Ish, performance poet Sue Brown and an interview with multi-disciplinary artist Joyce Treasure who talked about how Immigration and De-Colonial practice has influenced her work.
Lynsey Rutter the Museum’s Learning and Engagement Manager has been working with us since 2019. We have collaborated to produce Black History Month Events at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, in the City Centre, that have attracted capacity audiences the majority of who came from the cities Caribbean and African communities.
Lynsey recognises the importance of drawing on the experience of organisations that are intrinsically connected to communities, artists and audiences that can be beyond the usual reach of the museum.
“We have a long history of partnership work with organisations who are embedded within, or run by, communities local to our museums.
When planning our response to Windrush Day it seemed fitting to approach a partner with whom we have worked with before, The Red Earth Collective. Their contacts and knowledge of individuals within the African-Caribbean community in Birmingham to work with for this event far surpassed our own.
Museums must know when to reach out to others; know when to be the vocal leaders in a partnership and know when to step aside and facilitate. In this partnership our role was the later, Red Earth led in the creative planning for the event with great success. Community engaged practice must seek to establish a partnership on equal terms, and I believe with Red Earth we have that.”
Watch the series of short films here -