Celebrate Windrush Day at South London Gallery

Later this month South London Gallery (SLG) will host a series of events to celebrate art, culture and creativity within South London’s Caribbean community.

To mark Windrush Day on June 22, the gallery in Peckham Road, Peckham will host a day of events for all ages, with cooking workshops, family activities and a film screening curated by the SLG’s youth collective, the Art Assassins.

Windrush Day 2024 marks the 76th anniversary when HMT Empire Windrush first docked in Britain in 1948. 

It is a key moment for us to come together to highlight the many contributions of Caribbean communities in South London.

The day will begin with a paper bunting making workshop, led by artist Kalisha Piper-Cheddie. 

Using collage and drawing, children aged between five and 12 years old are invited to take inspiration from Caribbean flags, plants and objects from Caribbean homes, as well as the Peckham and Camberwell community.   

This will be followed by screenings of archive films about the Windrush generation and its descendants, curated by Art Assassins.

Featuring documentaries and interviews, the programme explores the stories from people who lived through Windrush and the history of local Afro-Caribbean communities.

Art Assassins worked with Tape Collective to select films from Southwark Archives, Black Cultural Archives and Southwark Heritage Centre. 

This screening is organised in partnership with Undocumented, a project led by The New Black Film Collective and London’s Screen Archives which are working to address the lack of Black stories in London’s film archives.

An oral histories listening space will be open from 2pm until 5pm, where visitors can listen to the stories and memories from elderly residents at Elim House Community Association which have been recorded by Art Assassins. 

Throughout the afternoon there will also be a drop in advice service open from Windrush Justice Clinic – a group of local organisations and volunteer partners supporting people from Commonwealth countries who have been affected by the Windrush scandal.

To find out more visit https://www.southlondongallery.org/education/windrush-2024/

Pictured top: SLG’s Lagos Family Day (Picture: Tolu Elusadé)