The Migration Museum exhibits new installation as part of Windrush anniversary celebrations
The Migration Museum in Lewisham is exhibiting a new installation by multi-disciplinary artist, Evewright, as part of Windrush 75th anniversary celebrations.
The installation, About Face, Where I begin, explores the artist’s own perspectives on growing up in Lewisham with parents from the Windrush generation.
Lewisham has always been a place where migrants from all over the world have gravitated to, especially from the Caribbean since the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.
The area remains a hub for Caribbean communities, in the 2021 census, 10.8 per cent of Lewisham residents identified as black, black British: Caribbean’, the highest proportion of any local authority in England and Wales.
A further 2.9 per cent identified as mixed/multiple ethnic groups, white or black Caribbean’.
The exhibition reflects on the places and the forgotten heroes of Lewisham’s past and present that have shaped the artist’s life.
It pays homage to his mother, Clarice Reid, and the influences of his father, Lindon Wright.
His brothers and sisters and other key individuals also feature as part of a discourse of what it means to be black and British today.
Evewright said: “A lot of people from the Caribbean moved to Lewisham, including my family. Lewisham Market fed us, the cheap housing held our large families, and for us young people it was a destination to go and party.
“I want to move the conversation about Windrush on. It’s not about that one white boat, it’s about the people who got off that boat and others following it, and what happened to them – and to their children, and their children’s children. And for many of us, Lewisham is at the heart of this story.”
The installation will be displayed from until July 16 in the windows of the Migration Museum in Lewisham Shopping Centre.
The museum will also be hosting Windrush Legacies, a day-long takeover of the Migration Museum on Saturday, June 24, with activities ranging from food, talks and music to art workshops and story sharing.
Picture: Lewisham About Face-‘Where I began’ Picture: EVEWRIGHT