Creating stories from the Archives

The Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain), a long-standing migrant worker activist collective, has worked with Northumbria University to co-create a community-based archive of some of their work from the 1960s to the present day.

We will creatively explore this archive through the creation of collages using copies of some archival material to try and understand more about the struggles, resistance and activism of migrantised workers in the past and how this might resonate with present day. We will explore the material to consider the different ways in which migrantised workers have been part of the wider working-class movement in Britain, the ways in which they have fought for workers’ rights and how this links to other campaigns such as anti-racism, immigration struggles, civil liberties and anti-imperialism.

We will also use the workshop to explore how creative approaches, such as collage, can be help us to engage with and make sense of material from the past.

Event decription

1pm - The event will start with a short talk welcoming us to the Gurdwara followed by a communal langur (a free kitchen/meal).

2pm - The workshop will begin with a short introductory talk (15 minutes) about a long-standing migrant worker activist collective, the Indian Workers Association Great Britain and their archive. This will be followed by a creative workshop in which participants can use surrogate material from the archive to develop a collage (1 hour). We will close the workshop by reflecting as a group on the material and the process of making our collages (15 minutes).

Venue & Accessibility details

The workshop will be held at: Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Cottenham Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE4 5QU

The Gurdwara is reachable by car or public transport. Buses 10,11,37,38,38A all stop at Westgate Road -Tindal Street bus stop. It is a short walk from this stop to the Gurdwara.

The workshop will be in an upstairs room with a lift available.

Please note no tobacco or alcohol should be brought into the Gurdwara and modest dress and a head covering are requested. A head covering can be borrowed from the Gurdwara if needed.

Please do get in touch to discuss any specific accessibility needs (sarah.peck@northumbria.ac.uk).