New African Caribbean exhibition to be launched in Sheffield

A new exhibition celebrating the stories of Sheffield’s African Caribbean community has been launched.

Caribbean Footprints will include photographs, films and memories from those who called the city home after arriving on HMT Windrush in 1948.

The exhibition is on display at Weston Park Museum and is free to visit.

A spokesman said it would be a “tribute” to how the community contributed to life in the town.

Between 1948 and 1971, people from the Caribbean moved to Britain to help fill post-war labor shortages and “helped build Britain’s future”, according to exhibition organisers.

Exhibits include a 1968 cricket bat signed by youth and organizers who attended the Police and Youth Living Together weekend.

This was held at Unstone Grange with members of Crookesmoor Youth Club and police cadets to improve community understanding and relations with the police.

Another is a 1980s choir dress worn by a singer from the Community Choir at Duke Street Church of God of Prophecy.

Simon Jones, one of the community co-curators behind the exhibition, said: “The exhibition is a tribute to the enduring resilience, unwavering strength and rich cultural vitality of Sheffield’s African Caribbean community.”

The exhibition also tackles contemporary issues such as the campaign for justice for victims of the Windrush scandal, with two films contributed by the Justice4Windrush campaign.

The Windrush scandal occurred when it emerged that the government had failed to properly record details of people who had been granted permission to remain in the UK.

Many were wrongfully deported.

Lucy Cooper, curator of exhibitions and displays at Sheffield Museums, said: “Caribbean Footsteps is a moving and joyful celebration of people gifted with African Caribbean heritage living in the city and we can’t wait for museum visitors to explore it.”

There will be a Caribbean Footsteps opening party on May 11 with a range of activities and live music.

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