Humjoli Ladies Group visit Apna Heritage Achive

It was great to see the Humjoli Ladies Group visit the archive space at Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara in Blakenhall. They were really exited to see  prints of some of the archived material and the display of items collected from participants. This was a great opportunity to see some of their own photographs and some of the group had even brought along more photographs to archive for the project. The collection of prints started to bring back memories and stories from the 60's and 70's and early migration to Wolverhampton.

The ladies were great with the touchscreen computer!

New photos to archive.......

Talking about the good old days!

Bilston's Ek Onkar and Ekta Sangat ladies group participate in Apna Heritage Archive

It as been a pleasure working with new participants at Bilston Community Centre for the Apna Heritage Archive. The ladies have been digging out their old images for the archive, even storm Doris couldn't keep them away from their regular meeting last week. You can see above a group portrait we took after one of the yoga sessions. We look forward the meeting them soon and discovering more new archive material. 

Meeting with the Humjoli Ladies Group at Dunstall Hill Community Centre

Another great meeting and discussion with the ladies at Humjoli. It was great to catch up with one of our project partners to encourage further participation and to talk to new members about heritage, archiving and how to get involved. We look forward to the groups visit to our archive space in the coming weeks.

Darshan Kaur Jandhu at Humjoli 

Apna Heritage Archive at the Sikh Survey launch

We were honored to be invited to the the Sikh Survey launch at the University of Wolverhampton by Dr Opinderjit Takhar, head of Religious Studies at the University.  It was a great opportunity to meet up with possible participants for the Apna Heritage Project. We had a very positive response from the visitors who very excited by the archive and how important it was for the town and region as a whole. 

Pupils at St Luke's talk about their own personal archive.

Year five pupils at St Luke's got to talk about their own personal archive bio and share their archive photograph with the school. There was a great deal of excitement as the pupils looked for their portraits as you can see in the image above. After reading out their own hand written information sheet they got to file away the information along with their photograph into the new St Luke's archive box. The children were really positive about the archive sessions and have enjoyed learning about our project and the importance of archive and heritage.

The children got to share their archive bio and photograph with classmates.

St Luke's archive project continues with new portraits.

One again it was great to visit St Luke's for another workshop. The children put into practice what they have learnt so far about recording their own archive stories. BCVA took portraits of the year five pupils in national dress or home clothes whilst the children recorded information to go with the photographs. We look forward to going back next week to complete the archive with year five. A big thank you for St Luke's for make a great effort! 

BCVA at Wolves Archives Local History Fair

BCVA were invited by Wolverhampton City Archives to attend this years Local History Fair to share their ground breaking HLF funded Apna Heritage Archive project. The project is documenting Punjabi migration to Wolverhampton form 1960 to 1989 through the collection of photographs and ephemera. We had a great turnout and it was great to see such positive response from all members of the community for our project.

Browsing our online archive!

St Luke's primary school learn about archives

BCVA visited St Luke's primary school to talk about the Apna Heritage Archive. The year five pupils discovered their own archive of photographs and documents going back to the 1930's! The children also learned how to take a portrait and gather information about the subject in order to build their own archive.

Jon shows the children the strong rooms at Wolverhampton City Archives

A group of 60 children visited Wolverhampton City Archives as part of BCVA's Apna Heritage Archive project. The children learned about the value of archives, history of Blakenhall and St. Luke's School. Along with a visit to the strong rooms and taking photographs of the buildings architecture conservator Jon and Guy shared their knowledge with the children and staff. A big thank you to all the staff at Wolverhampton City Archives and St Luke's primary school.

The children discover the secret cupboard!

HLF funded Apna Heritage Archive takes to the road.....

BCVA are currently on a marketing drive to promote the Apna Heritage Archive, a project supported by Heritage Lottery Fund. After appearing in various publications including ARC magazine and Mann Jeet Weekly we have been in the heart of local community promoting the value of heritage that our project brings. Along the way we have met many individuals that are keen to get involved and are digging out the old albums as we speak! be sure to visit our website and Instagram page to see the archive build up. 

Apna Heritage Archive makes news in ARC magazine

BCVA's Apna Heritage Archive project makes it into the September issue of ARC magazine. ARC is a monthly magazine for members of the Archives and Records Association. It's really positive news that our project as been featured in a magazine read by people and organisations in the record keeping profession. 

ARC September issue PDF

Apna Heritage Archive at Tiranga 2016

BCVA attended Jaivant Patel Dance's Tiranga 2016 event at the heart of the community in Blakenhall Wolverhampton. It was a great opportunity to promote the Apna Heritage Archive to our target audience and participants. We had a positive response from the local community and met many new participants for the archive project. 

BCVA would like to thank Jaivant Patel and all the staff at Tiranga 2016 for their support. 

St Luke's visit to Wolverhampton City Archives

A group of 30 children visited Wolverhampton City Archives as part of BCVA's Apna Heritage Archive project. The children learned about the value of archives and the history of the Molineux Hotel building. Along with a visit to the strong rooms and taking photographs of the buildings architecture conservator Jon Everall and City Archivist Heidi McIntosh shared their knowledge with the children and staff. A big thank you to all the staff at Wolverhampton City Archives for an exciting and historical afternoon!

Pupils at St Luke's primary school learn the value of archives

BCVA once again teamed up with St Luke's C of E primary school in Blakenhall to talk about our new Apna Heritage Archive project. Over the course of 4 workshops they will learn about the value of archives and how to create their very own archive made up of portraits and information about themselves.  The children learned how to take a portrait through a practical game of 'human camera' and portrait session. Over the next few workshops we will visit the Wolverhampton City Archives to learn more about archival practice and take new portraits in national dress. A big thank you to all the staff and children for their hard work and enthusiasm for the project. Apna Heritage Archive is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Desi Pubs makes it to Alchemy 2016 at the Southbank Center

Creative Black Country's commissioned work by six artists at six Black Country pubs opens at the Southbank Alchemy festival 2016. The opening night was a huge success with a coach full of Desi Pub landlords and Artist arriving at the Royal Festival Hall in style! The Alchemy festival showcases the talents of Artists from around the world, celebrating the rich cultural relationship between the Indian subcontinent and the UK. Artists at BCVA displayed 18 portraits taken at The Island Inn and The Sportsman Club both in West Bromwich.

Apna Heritage Archive Instagram post leads to tweets by two Wolverhampton born writers!

A post on Twitter by Wolverhampton born journalist Sathnam Sanghera " Lovely new Instagram account aiming to collate some British Asian history" was followed by a re tweet by fellow Wolverhampton born comedian and writer Mera Syal " These old b/w snaps make everything look like a movie still. Cherish and share, photos on a phone just can't compete."

'Desi Pubs' BCVA interview with Cyrus Todiwala by BBC's Ruchi Tandon

Cyrus Todiwala was in the Black Country today visiting the 'Desi Pubs' project and meeting some of the artists that are creating new work at the pubs. Anand and Sra talked with Cyrus and Ruchi about their portrait work and the interesting stories behind them. It was great to hear Cyrus's take on the 'Desi Pub' story here in the Black Country.

Over the last few months Anand and Sra have created new portraits at the Island Inn and The Sportsman Club, both in West Bromwich as part of a Creative Black Country commission.   

'Apna Heritage Archive' Black Country Visual Arts CIC wins Heritage Lottery Fund support

Black Country Visual Arts CIC has received £68,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, Apna Heritage Archive, in Wolverhampton. Led by Black Country Visual Arts and supported by a range of local partners and volunteers, the project will create an original photographic archive of Punjabi migration to the city from 1960 to 1989. The Apna Heritage archive will exist within Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara in Blakenhall with a digital copy available at the City Archives. The project will run for two years until early 2018.

Thanks to National Lottery players the project will engage Punjabi residents of Wolverhampton to learn about and discuss their heritage contributing their historic family photographs to the new archive. Seventy-five portraits will also be taken providing a present day record. Community volunteers will learn about the value of heritage and develop skills to create and maintain the visual archive. A creative learning and heritage project with St Luke’s Primary School will run alongside the project. Year 6 school children will learn and develop heritage research skills and create their own archive of the school and local Blakenhall community.

The BCVA project partnership includes: Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara, St Luke’s Primary School, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton City Archives and the University of Wolverhampton. 

Creative Black Country commissions BCVA for 'Desi Pubs' project.

‘It’s an East meets West story, where the classic English pub with its ales, dart, dominos & sports meets Punjabi food and Bhangra music. Asian landlords have been salvaging the struggling pub trade by reinventing failed pubs as independent businesses reaching out to a wide range of customers from the Black Country’s diverse communities. What started as a safe-haven for young Asian pub goes in the 70s has blossomed into a unique Black Country success story.’ – Creative Black Country

 We are excited to be working alongside six local artists at eight different Desi Pubs in the Black Country. Working closely with the ‘Pub Family’ made up of landlords, staff and regulars BCVA will create a series of portraits at The Sportsman and The Island Inn, both in West Bromwich. This will culminate in an exhibition and in May.

'Desi pubs' is a fantastic story for the Black Country! Pubs now in the hands of many South Asian landlords represent the changing landscape of the Black Country and yet they serve all sections of their communities. Black Country Visual Arts is very happy to photograph and document the rise of the 'Desi pub'. As a feature project, utilising photographic art that communicates the truth of this story and its history is perfect for the project' -  Anand Chhabra - BCVA

You can find out more about the project at www.creativeblackcountry.co.uk

'Supnaa' Exhibition at Bantock House Museum 18th Nov - 21st Dec 2015

BCVA & Exodus project make headlines in Express & Star 'Art Tribute'

Black Country Visual Arts ground breaking arts project makes headlines in local press. The double page article highlights the importance of the project within the community and goes on to interview some of the participants. This was an opportunity for them to tell their stories first hand. Award winning author Sathnam Sanghera said he was pleased to see that Black Country Visual Arts was attempting to tell migrants stories through its Exodus project.  

Exodus PDF