Students demonstrating in Trafalgar Square in 1970 against a parliamentary bill restricting the right of commonwealth citizens to stay in Britain © Moving Here/Museum of London.
Shruti Ganapathy made her way to the Ragged School Museum to take in its latest exhibition, which is on show until July 7 2005.
It is often difficult to research relations that are not formal – lifestyles, work patterns and friendships often go undocumented. And yet these habits go a long way in creating patterns in history, as the current exhibition at the Ragged School Museum in Mile End demonstrates.
Connections: hidden British histories is a travelling exhibition that tries to bring together and explore subtle similarities and differences between the experiences of three minority groups in Britain – Asians, Blacks and Jews.
The exhibition takes one from the beginnings – when these ethnic groups arrived in the country – through to the their place in society today. It focuses on prominent areas of the existence of these three communities like Birmingham and Liverpool, and is presented in an interesting and lively fashion combining narrative social history with lots of personal anecdotes from prominent representatives of these communities.
A Black Church congregation during the late 1950s.
The election of the first Asian MP to the House of Commons in 1892 and opinion polls suggesting Chicken Tikka Masala to be the official national food are just a part of it.
Jews, Blacks and Asians living in the UK have varied backgrounds, with different traditions and heritage – but they are all British in an undeniable way. This exhibition tries to track that transition period to understand when and how they became an integral part of the British community. The motive seems to be to make people take their heritage and citizenship seriously and make them aware that they don’t need to compromise one for the other.
Engaging memories are one of the highlights of the exhibition, making interesting reading. For instance, television presenter Floella Benjamin – originally from the West Indies, a former British colony – remembers singing God Save the Queen before school lessons and how pupils were encouraged to celebrate British memorial days and feel proud of being British.
This building on the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane was originally a Huguenot Church, then a Jewish Synagogue and is now a Muslim mosque. © Andrew Holt/National Maritime Museum.
Among some of the aspects that have been covered in detail are the problems the communities faced when they first arrived in Britain; the geographical areas where there seem to be a majority presence; ways of responding to racism and attitudes towards each other in general. These issues are dealt with frankly, in straightforward language.
The organisers have worked closely with the Jewish Council for Racial Equality to make this exhibition happen. It was previously exhibited at City Hall and the Jewish Museum.
The exhibition is available to hire - for more information visit the Connections exhibition website at www.connections-exhibition.org
Shruti Ganapathy is the 24 Hour Museum Untold London Student Journalist covering heritage and diversity stories in the capital.
From August 2005 you can read more stories like the one above at UntoldLondon.org.uk - a new website funded by MLA London through the Renaissance scheme, detailing museum and community history events covering multi-ethnic London.
Contact the editor: klsmith@museumoflondon.org.uk if you are a museum, gallery, archive or community group and would like to know more about taking part in this project.
