‘Windrush cricket’ – project outline
(revised May 2020 in light of Covid-19 constraints)
Overview, aims and outputs
Cricket was a game of immense social and cultural importance for the so-called Windrush generation that arrived in England from the Caribbean c. 1948-1973. The story of West Indian cricket has been told either as one of ‘national awakenings’ in the Caribbean, or through ‘white majority’ reactions to touring West Indies teams. This Community Engagement project focuses on the Hackney Windrush generation’s own experience of organising and playing cricket in England. It would contribute to a broader academic research project that Dr Collins (project lead, hereafter PL) is producing on the social and cultural history of cricket and Caribbean immigration in England.
Working with Hackney Museum and Hackney Council, the primary aim of the project is to build new relationships with Windrush generation communities in Hackney. Catalysing interactions between UCL and local Hackney communities, the project will conduct oral history interviews online, which produce new histories of migration and settlement in east London through the lens of cricket. Curating and preserving cultural heritage for local communities, the UCL team would use the oral histories, images of other objects and memories collected as part of the project to produce a Hackney-focused exhibition on ‘Windrush Cricket’. The exhibition will be produced using new oral histories as well as existing secondary literature and archival sources.
The first iteration of the exhibition will be an online version, with future portable, ‘pop-up’ exhibitions planned. The pop-up exhibition would include photos, text and objects, as well as a creative ‘memory wall’ to gather further memories and leads for additional interviews. The final version of the exhibition would be a temporary, interactive exhibit within the Hackney Museum. Exhibition outputs would be based on coproduction, with input from Hackney Museum and the UCL project team and legacy versions created through https://www.omeka.net/.
Ultimately, in addition to the proposed exhibitions, the research will support and feed into the PL’s future teaching at UCL East’s ‘Culture Lab’, and to the PL’s current book project on Windrush Cricket in England.
Project assistant role
The UCL team seeks to hire a project assistant (hereafter, PA) who would work with the PL in conducting literature reviews, online research into primary source materials and online oral history interviews. The successful candidate will also be offered paid training in oral history techniques. The PA would also work on the production of the online exhibition.
The rate of pay is £14.89 per hour. Most of the work would be done remotely and as such would require the candidate to have a good working space with a strong internet connection. The work should be conducted during June and July 2020, with the possibility of a short extension. We envisage roughly 200 hours of flexible paid work during this period, with time schedules and possible additional hours to be negotiated in advance.
If interested, contact Tahlia Coombs <tahlia.coombs@hackney.gov.uk> 020 8356 5584 (mobile 07800 723355)
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