Showing posts with label Back from the Western Front. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Back from the Western Front. Show all posts

Monday 9 October 2017

Back from the Western Front: African Soldiers of the Great War in Britain - Launch 18th October Willesden Green Library


They Also Served from RVS Film:Edit:Encode:Broadcast on Vimeo.


Launch event 6-7.30pm on 18th October 2017 and Exhibition running until 8th January 2018 at 12am, Exhibition Space, Willesden Library Centre, 95 High Rd, London 

Brent Museum and Archives and Learning through the Arts are working together on ‘Back from the Western Front: African Soldiers of the Great War in Britain’ – an exciting community research and exhibition project which will explore the legacy of African soldiers in the First World War.

The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and will explore the heritage, sacrifices and contributions of soldiers of African origin at The Western Front as well as the challenges of resettlement, for these soldiers returning to Britain in the immediate aftermath of the war between 1918-19.

Angelina Osborne and Yewande Okuleye are Sankofa Rising, a project collaboration where they have a shared interest in recovering "untold stories" about Afro-Caribbean and African histories. The focus on WW1 commemoration has presented opportunities for both historians to curate community exhibitions.

Angelina curated They Also Served exhibition

Yewande  worked with volunteers at the Brent Museum and curated Back from the Western Front .

They are asking for support from anyone interested for their next project. They will visit Littlehampton Cemeteryin West Sussex where three members of the South African Labour Corps are buried.  The men were on the SS Mendi which sank on the 21st February. At the ceremony on November 4th at the cemetery they will perform a reading and lay wreaths and commemorate those men buried far away from home.

If you would like to take part in this initiative contact Yewande  sankofarisingnow@gmail.com There is no funding for the project. A return ticket from London to Littlehampton is about £30 but cheaper options may be available.